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.
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.
Josh
Guest
He should only play for Western Sydney, that's where he's from. It's pretty insulting seeing Sydney FC keen on him considering what they sing about anyone that comes from there....
Midfielder
Roar Guru
Just my opinion but Musty would be cheap in fact cheaper than most current mids... ?????? you ask... Because IMO he would add at least 2K to the gate and over say 13 rounds that an extra 26K at $ 25.00 per seat or over $ 650K.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
This is the problem with Europe a lot of cheap stuff. In the old days the Socceroos most of them went to Europe without money and comtracts they knew if they didnt perform they would be homeless with no A-league as security only the NSL. Amini on the other hand came on a well paid contract at a big club. Seems to have done him no good.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
haha derbyshire that was one on my biggest pre season predictions i got wrong, when i said he wouldnt score more than 1 goal. i still think hes a terrible player lol the bulls have only had 9 goals come from players born in australia, while 22 goals have been from VISA players. There lies a big problem with the team
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Also losing a few others I've heard. Derbyshire staying? I reckon they might have some more room yet.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Amini he had the most potential not because of his talent he also had decent speed, the problem with Amini is he has no engine , The same applies to Klut, Rogic. Klut was slower than Amini, and Rogic is unathletic. Rogic worked the hardest to improve himself but injuries got in his way. Klut decided to slack off and give it away. Mooy not as fast as Amini, better engine but not good, but made the most his career. Now taken the big bucks in China. Antonis has a great engine, not that athletic , but why is he playing in Korea where they have a super athletic physical league and he isnt even getting good game time. It makes utterly no sense , last time MV won a title it was because he came in mid season when they were in the dumps. If you wanted a player to win you a title its Antonis, great passer , hard worker, can run all day in the heat and why isnt he in the Socceroos squad
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
macarthur wont be in for amini at season end. They have davilla and de silva who they will announce in the coming weeks that play in attacking mid; the bulls look to be building a formidable squad for next season
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Mmmmmmm. Milligan retires. Cap space for a significant player?
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
big call as best ever to come through central coast, mariners have produced some great young players over the years from a technical standpoint in a position as a nation australia is struggling to have players come through in - i could agree with your view.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
definitely will play in australia. even though he didnt have the most succesful career in europe, he spent 10 years there which is a lot more than most aussie players and earned reasonable money. an a league club will sign him if the price is right, but only if the price is right. i think most clubs are scared to sign injury prone players, look at juric at adelaide; even though that wasnt a big finanical outlay. Has it been tworth the risk?
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
I have no doubts that he definitetly has the application. To come back from that many injuries and keep trying to play on in europe; when theres been a lot of young aussie players who came back home with there tail between there legs – shows he’s got a decent pair on him lol We were reasonably close to singing him, but the figure we werer quoted was too much. I think he is being priced out of a move by agent. its no different to t juric, no other a league club showed interest; we only got him because he was guaranteed to be first choice striker when fit and because we struck a fair price for his injury record
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
seems like a dream come true. There is going to be an exodus of players from the mariners, amini will slot perfectly into de silvas position
Midfielder
Roar Guru
Musty IMO the best junior player we have even had and he held in awe at the Mariners... His passing, quick brain and turn of speed was unequalled at the time.. Would love to have Musty back....
Franko
Guest
My point is, I'm not sure he ever had the application. What was in his blood? The same thing that keeps you partying for two days? And partying for what? The guys he sometimes trained with won the European Cup. Even this year, why not take base payment to join a team, access their physios and equipment.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
Is he definitely coming back to Australia? or is it possible, if someone makes the right offer? I'd love to see him back in the A League.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
the talent has always been there, which is why he is still being given chances in europe. But his body is so brittle - arzanis barely played 10 games in nearly 4 years. He needs to come back home and spend a year with an a league club here, where he can build up his playing time. Australias notoriously long off season will help with his fitness. i'm not going to fully write him off yet, but being consistently injured from a young age in terms of a footballer 18/19 years old, is a massive concern
Punter
Roar Rookie
Still time for Azani.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
application can only take you so far though. T Juric, Arzani & Amini all should've had much better careers, unfortunately their bodies always break down. i'm not saying all 3 should've played for juventus or barcelona, but without all the injuries; they had the talent to play for a top tier mid table european club
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
he can do a job for any team in the league, i believe he'll definitely stay in NSW though
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
no matter which club hes been at, theres always been good reports on him as a pro as well as a personal level - unfortunately not from a physical level though