Free to talk ... Emile Heskey, Tomas Rogic and Jeronimo Neumann Source: News Limited
Tomas Rogic, Emile Heskey and Jeronimo Neumann headline a list of more than 110 A-League free agents for the 2013-2014 season.
Don't worry, this is not a sign of a competition in crisis. It’s normal. It’s the nature of the A-League, thanks to a salary cap environment, and the market of world football being so large.
The vast majority have been able to chat to other clubs about their futures since November 1.
Out of contract players are free agents from April 30, though if a club is involved in the Asian Champions League – like Brisbane, Perth and Central Coast Mariners this season – that date is pushed back a month.
There are so many options out there for players and clubs alike.
There will always be movement – easily more so than any other football code in the country.
So what is about to happen?
According to one agent, the general rule is clubs will look to ramp up retention for next season around the New Year period.
There are exceptions, of course, but that period also coincides with the opening of the Asian transfer window in January.
So if a club realises the player will move on, and they want to get at least something for him, they can sell him.
| P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adelaide | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 16 |
| 2 | Central Coast | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 14 |
| 3 | Newcastle | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | -2 | 12 |
| 4 | Perth | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 10 |
| 5 | Western Sydney | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| 6 | Victory | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | -4 | 10 |
| 7 | Wellington | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| 8 | Brisbane | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| 9 | Heart | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -1 | 7 |
| 10 | Sydney | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | -9 | 6 |
With all that in mind, here’s a look at each club and perhaps the priority off-contract player.
Adelaide
Jeronimo Neumann
The Reds have 11 off contract, and talks have opened with Cassio, but how the Hindmarsh faithful would love to see Jeronimo stay. Given how hard it is to find foreign gold for the right price, it’d be a shame to see another Argentinian import move so soon.
Brisbane
Eric Paartalu
He nearly went 12 months ago to Asia, and similar questions look set to arise this January. Will Brisbane cash in, or will they be able to re-sign an integral member of their championship winning teams. Must be said, Brisbane are an exception to the rule in terms of re-signing players, after the announcement in September of Theo, Smith, Steffanutto, Franjic, Broich and Henrique extending their stay.
Mariners
Tom Rogic
As Robbie Slater likes to say, well thanks scoop. The Mariners have a stack of players off contract, including Ryan, Zwaanswijk, McGlinchey and goal-a-game McBreen (now on seven goals, if he gets to 10 he reckons Arnie has promised him a new deal), so to pick one is hard, but it would be good to see Tom Rogic extend his stay at the Mariners. He’s become a Socceroo there, and another year or two under Arnold surely won’t harm.
Melbourne Heart
Josip Tadic
They have a few veterans like Clint Bolton, Simon Colosimo, Fred, Matt Thompson and the excellent Richard Garcia, but back to the point about Adelaide – finding foreign gold. It's early days, yes, however Josip Tadic looks the goods.
Melbourne Victory
Marco Rojas
We know the Ange mantra – he finds players who fit his way so there will be turnover next off season, but one player they’d surely love to keep is Marco Rojas. Will he chase the dream overseas? Given his rate of improvement this season (to one of the top five players in the comp at this stage), is he better off staying a year or two? That’s one interesting discussion between him, his agent and Ange.
Newcastle Jets
Emile Heskey
It’s worked. Big Emile surrounded by the kids has paid off, so if the Jets can stump up the cash again, why not?
The Jets are one of the few in the past weeks to settle some futures – Ben Kennedy and James Virgili extending their deals.
Perth Glory
Liam Miller
Yeah, they’re a tad biased, but his teammates label him the best player in the competition, and I’d dare say Ian Ferguson has a lofty opinion, too. So getting Liam Miller to extend his two-year stay would be a priority, no?
Sydney FC
Yairo Yau
Wow, where to start? A coach will be good, thus the reason why time is of the essence to appoint a new guy. He can get in, decide who he likes, who he doesn’t, and plan properly for the future. One place on the park that doesn’t seem to need reconstructive surgery is up front. Assuming Del Piero stays (his deal is one year plus an option, but every single indication points towards him taking that up), getting quicksilver striker Yairo Yau to hang around would be good, whether it be extending his loan from Sporting San Miguelito in Panama, or buying him outright.
Wellington Phoenix
Alex Smith
Really stable now under new ownership, Phoenix don’t have as much to do as others. Alex Smith would be handy to keep, given his help in making up for the loss of Tim Brown.
Western Sydney
nearly all of them!
Apart from Aaron Mooy, Shinji Ono, Nikolai Topor Stanley and a handful of youth players, the entire squad was signed to one-year deals. So given how they have operated over the past month, many of them, not least captain Michael Beauchamp, would love to be there for the Wanderers second season.
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