Australian World Cup hopeful Jamie Maclaren has agreed to join Scottish Premier League outfit Hibernian on loan.
The five-cap Socceroos striker has left German second-tier side Darmstadt after his selection bid for Russia 2018 stalled with a lack of game time.
The clubs have not formally announced the deal but Darmstadt coach Dirk Schuster confirmed Hibernian have secured the ex-A-League star’s services.
“I hope this turns out to be a good move for him and that he can draw attention to himself for the World Cup,” Schuster told German newspaper Bild.
“Hopefully he will help Australia in the summer and then come back to us a better player.”
Maclaren signed a three-year deal with Darmstadt in May under former German international Torsten Frings.
But his place in the squad was put under more of a cloud after Frings was sacked as coach and replaced by Schuster.
Maclaren left the A-League after scoring 40 league goals in his two seasons at Brisbane Roar, off the back of a rich run of goalscoring form for Perth Glory in 2015.
But he has made just seven appearances off the bench in the 2.Bundesliga for a total of 153 minutes, going goalless.
Maclaren was not selected for the World Cup qualifying playoffs against Syria and Honduras.
Hibernian are fourth on the Scottish premiership with nine wins from 22 matches.
Kangajets
Guest
Stu Maybe your right Name one player from a club other then Celtic , ....who you would in the Socceroos from the s p l My guess is absolutely no one
Kangajets
Guest
Celtic rangers Aberdeen are wealthy and always finish 123 The other 9 clubs are not flash . Sydney FC would do them by 2 or 3
stu
Guest
Someone is not telling the players. They continue to sign up for SPL clubs and notably spend a lot of time on the bench including TR at Celtic. Not sure how we can rationalise that the best coming out of the A-League end up in the 'terrible' SPL and warm a seat on the bench. Even Matt Mackay at his peak sat on the bench more than he played on the pitch. Like I say, I think we are inflating our worth due to our isolation from the competitive market of Europe.
Stu
Guest
Ok, looks like 7th place is subjective in relation to the top leagues in Europe. In my opinion I would have placed England, Germany, Spain and Italy as the top leagues in Europe. Four leagues standing out above the rest. I don't think UEFA has a cut of point, like I said it becomes a subjective discussion and clouds the main issue of discussion ie...can the Australian product reach the success it had in Europe 10-20 years ago as it is far from it at the moment?
Nemesis
Guest
"Portuguese Liga in my own opinion is not one of the top leagues in Europe" I'm sure you have strong credentials for ranking leagues in Europe. But, I'll stick with the UEFA ranking model, which uses a point system based on team results in the UCL & UEL to rank domestic leagues in Europe. UEFA ranks the Portuguese 1st Division as #7 in Europe. The Top 5 are obvious. Russia's Premier League is #6. Portugal's Primeira' Liga is #7. Maybe, you should contact UEFA & advise them that your ranking system is more valid. Stu's Gut Ranking.. I'm sure UEFA will be receptive.
stu
Guest
Portuguese Liga in my own opinion is not one of the top leagues in Europe. I agree that a number of players have walked into some of the bigger leagues in Europe for them to sit on the bench or be loaned out. I would suggest that the number of players walking into these bigger leagues is getting less along with there ability to hold a spot. However, we have seen a noticeable number of Australian players being picked up by SPL clubs. Some also warmed the bench such as Matt Mackay and the young guy at Celtic (sorry, his name escapes me). If anything, most contributors on the subject of Australians moving abroad should consider that the halsion days are over and what needs to be done to during them back.
Sydneysider
Guest
Check out this link: http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/42141794 Celtic has the highest average player salary in Scotland at £735,000 which is about $1.27 mil on current exchange rates. Rangers are at £329,600 which is $570,000 on current exchange rates. Aberdeen's average salary is £134,670 = $233,000 AUD. The lowest paying teams are Hamilton Accies and Motherwell at around £42,000 = $72,000 AUD. A-League average salary on a $2.928 million salary cap (and excluding the 2 marquee players that each club could theoretically have) that equates to around $140,000 average salary for 21 players. Celtic would destroy every club in the A-League bar SFC, who they would still beat quite comfortably. Basically, apart from Celtic and Rangers, the other SPL clubs would have wage bills very similar to A-League clubs apart from SFC, Melb City, Melb Victory who all have marquee players.
Nemesis
Guest
A minute portion of the world's professional footballers walk into the 5 major euro leagues. England u20 team are Champions of the World and those players can't walk into EPL teams. ALeague players have walked into the top leagues in Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria. Took a few season, but Matt Leckie has no problem scoring in Bundesliga. Nick Ansell, who was a bench player at MVFC last season walked into the Portuguese Top Division.
stu
Guest
To the surprise of many, perhaps he (like many other Australian players) are only at the same level of that 'terrible' league known as the SPL. We have very inflated opinions at times as to where our talent pool sites, and have a stranger expectations that our players should be able to just walk into the major euro leagues.
steve
Guest
Yeah they could play off for the " which is the Crappier League Cup ". Only the loser takes home the trophy.
Kangajets
Guest
Celtic would have a budget of 100 million for players. A league clubs have abt 4 million A league could beat the others
Nick Symonds
Guest
Australia has a population 5 times the size of Scotland which is comparable to the the size of Sydney. It would be interesting to have the top 4 teams from each league face off against each other in a knockout competition to see where the A-League sits in comparison.
Kangajets
Guest
I think Celtic would start favourites against victory or Sydney FC I think victory Sydney jets would start favourite against the bottom 8 teams in the Scottish premier league for sure
Nick Symonds
Guest
Melbourne Victory have beaten both Atletico Madrid and Juventus at the International Champions Cup in 2016. Do you think they could beat Celtic? ACL results will be interesting to watch this year as well.
Kangajets
Guest
A league is better then Scotland ( apart from Celtic ) imo
tommaso
Guest
surely playing in the A league is better than playing in the SPL for Hibernian - from what I've seen the A league is far a better standard
Cool N Cold
Guest
It is better to have Maccarone than him this yr.
Cool N Cold
Guest
That is just exactly what many Roar fans have expected. He cannot perform in Europe.
Kangajets
Guest
Mc claret will find the back of the net in Scotland. He is a good striker. He will be like Scott McDonald maybe . I think though to challenge himself more he should have returned to the A league. Brisbane or ccm would snap him up for sure
Waz
Guest
He should have stayed one more year, or signed for someone like Darmstadt and done a lone year back to Roar. For those that studied his game last year it was obvious his goal scoring record suggested he could move on but the way he was playing didn’t - starved of opportunity Maclaren became a passenger hence the criticism it was like playing with 10 1/2 men. He needs good coaching and game time,he is a genuine talent but needs to take that next step up which many thought would occur in Germany - like you I think Hibs is a backward step but let’s hope it’s not, and that it is only temporary.