Socceroos midfielder James Troisi has reportedly sparked the interest of four A-League clubs after terminating his contract with Saudi Arabian club Al-Ittihad.
Melbourne City, his former club Melbourne Victory, Wellington Phoenix and his hometown club Adelaide United have joined the race to sign the attacker during the January transfer window.
Troisi said he left the Saudi club due to unpaid wages, four months after signing with them.
“They were in breach of contract and I chose to terminate,” Troisi told NewsCorp Australia.
The 27-year-old said he wanted to make a call on his future in the coming days.
“A few clubs interested but nothing concrete, but I want to make decision in the next week or so, ideally as soon as possible,” Troisi said.
“But I won’t rush into a decision for the sake of it.
“Victory was great to me, I enjoyed my time there and I stayed in touch with people there.
“I’ve had contact from Ernie Merrick (Phoenix coach) and Greg Griffin (Adelaide chairman), and there’s still interest overseas.
“I’ll weigh my options up in the next week or so.”
Troisi, who has won 26 caps for the national side, scored 12 times in 29 games for Victory during the 2013-14 season while on loan from Italian giants Juventus.
After another successful loan spell with Belgium outfit Zulte Waregem he signed for Al-Ittihad in September, severing ties with Juventus.
Waz
Guest
Haven't heard specifics on Goodwin other than he's interested in going overseas, big of a patern there. Jets need a squad boost - mid season is about the time a squad gets caught out and Jets are in the doldrums right now.
Paul
Guest
Thanks Waz. have you heard that Goodwin is going? I expect Troisi to explore overseas before any commitment in the A-league, but he will have to be quick. Newcastle would benefit most from having a player of Troisi's class. The Jets just signed one of the Olyroos who just came off contract in Croatia, Ugarkovic I think is a DM. If they had Triosi along with Carney as well a fit Leonardo the would be far more competitive.
Waz
Guest
Paul - sound logic and won't disagree with anything you've said. However the FFAs continued ownership of the Jets is becoming a little worrying with the only potential buyer willing to pay a third of the FFAs asking price so the likelihood of them increasing costs with no prospect of selling the club this season is pretty low (assuming it'll take at least 3-4 months for any sale to conclude) unfortunately I'd expect they will continue to baton down the hatches rather than gamble on increased losses over a future period of time that looks to have no end.This must be a very sobering period for the FFA who can thank themselves lucky they don't have Roar on their books also. So with that logic in mind probably Nix is the place he'll find first team football on a regular basis (although if Goodwin is on his way out then he may be a decent replacement at AU?). Personally I think he'll head overseas agsin, he chased the money last time around so I think he'll do it again. Hope I'm wrong.
Paul
Guest
Triosi has not been a fixture in Socceroos since the Asian Cup as he has not had been consistent since his loan by Juventus to the Belgian club. He needs consistent first team game time so Newcastle or Wellington would guarantee game time whereas He would not be guaranteed first team with Adelaide. Muscat has already put the Studs-up for a move to the big V. FFA should put the money up with the Korean gone for a move to Newcastle. This would bring the standard up for the lower teams in the league!
Franko
Guest
Head for your hometown young man!
Mark
Guest
His experience should be a lesson to other Australian players thinking of heading over to the Middle East for fat pay cheques. Many clubs there are not run by reputable people and players cannot rely on the court systems to enforce a contract (foreign workers have next to no rights). If players aren't performing as expected on the field, the club may just stop paying them, and there is very little the players can do about it.
Fadida
Guest
Given that both Victory and City have used their marquees he surely won't be going there (unless they employ Glory's accountant from last season)? I doubt very much that he meets the criteria for "guest" player either? Jets still have around 250k of the Li Ki Ji money left and their biggest priority is creativity and goals. So Adelaide!
pete4
Guest
Would be a great idea for the FFA to get the Jets a marquee IMO
Waz
Guest
Or have the money while the FFA retain ownership? Triosi needs to choose his next club carefully though - he went for the $$$$ last time and now he needs to balance career v cash. Nix under Merick would be a good move, Victory also but probably less cash as their marquee slots are taken, AU I'm not sure about as they're not known to splash the cash. Be nice to have him back in the HAL :)
Fadida
Guest
I'm sure Jets would have no use for a creative, goal scoring midfielder