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Opinion
Over the years, the A-League has produced some wonderfully gifted teenagers. Some tend to fizzle out like a sparkler. Others manage to make the European dream a reality.
It has been ten years since one such phenomenon left the comforts of Australia to spend an injury-riddled decade in Europe.
Mustafa Amini was a prodigious talent who was hard to miss with the red afro and beaming smile. He is now 28 years old and recuperating from yet another injury in Sydney since being released from his Danish club AGF.
He in one of the finest midfielders I ever had the pleasure of personally scouting, coming through the AIS. Although his time with the Mariners was short, Amini proved he belonged playing against men more than double his age.
Amini always had a great eye for a pass. He could thread the eye of the needle. He was always looking to move the ball forward and his diminutive stature was perfect for being able to turn a defender on a sixpence and leave them trailing in his wake.
European scouts by now had got wind of the prodigy and a battle broke out between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund for his signature. BVB were managed by Jurgen Klopp and they won the duel due to their proven track record of bringing youth into the first team.
However, at Dortmund, he never managed to break into the first team and semi-regularly played for the second team when he was fit. After the failure of Germany, he was on his way to Denmark, where he’s been for the past five years.
(Photo by Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images)
In Denmark, every time he seemed to play multiple matches in a row, he would miss some through injury. His time with AGF was littered with great patches of form, but with his body continually breaking down, he was never able to fully show his repertoire of skills.
At the start of the A-League season, he was heavily linked with all the NSW clubs, but it was surprisingly Adelaide United who were close to signing Amini.
The deal breaker for Adelaide was the amount of money that would be required to have the talented playmaker join. For a player with such a lengthy injury record, the price was deemed far too high and Adelaide moved on.
While recuperating from an injury, during these negotiations, the unlucky Amini re-injured himself yet again. The black cat of bad luck seems to have followed him around since his move to Europe and he has been unable to get his body where it needs to be to play professional football consistently.
Regardless of his injury record, Amini is a player that every team in Australia should look at and contemplate signing.
Central Coast will have a turnover of players in the off-season and the lure of returning to finish his career with the club where he shot to stardom could be too much to turn down.
Newcastle is in desperate need of quality, but his wages could prove too exorbitant for them to proceed with a move.
The Wanderers have a mismatched squad and Amini would be an upgrade on who they have in that position currently, while at Sydney FC he could be the new heir to Milos Ninkovic’s throne.
I also wouldn’t count Melbourne Victory out of the discussion with Tony Popovic being a big admirer and even Adelaide, who are in desperate need of a playmaker and have had a habit over the years of taking risks signing injury-prone players if the price is right.
Mustafa Amini is a quality player whose body never allowed him to reach the lofty heights that he should’ve ascended to. The A-League club that signs him next will know the risks, but they will also know the potential of the rewards.
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