Adelaide United have boosted their midfield stocks through the signing of Uruguay’s Francisco Usucar until the end of the season.
The Reds have secured Usucar for the remainder of the current Hyundai A-League campaign with the possibility of a further one-year extension.
The 24-year-old arrived in Adelaide on Monday and will join the Reds at training this week, although he won’t be eligible to play for the club until the January transfer window opens on New Years Day.
Usucar has played in Uruguay’s U-20 and U-17 national teams, having most recently completed a season with Central Espanol in Uruguay’s Primera Division after also playing with Greek club Panathinaikos last year.
An aggressive holding midfielder, Usucar will take up a foreign spot on the Reds’ playing roster, which has been made available with the early departures of Korean midfielder Inseob Shin, who has been drafted to the K-League club Busan I’Park, and striker Lloyd Owusu, who is returning to England.
Shin and Owusu are both scheduled to depart Adelaide this month, allowing Usucar to replace Shin, while versatile utility Cameron Watson, who has been on a host of short-term contracts, will take up a place on the official roster.
In other Adelaide news, defender Robert Cornthwaite has been ruled out of Friday’s home game against Melbourne Heart with a hamstring injury.
Cornthwaite had scans on Monday after injuring his hamstring in the second half of last Friday night’s win over North Queensland Fury, the tests revealing just a minor hamstring strain.
“What’s good is that the news is positive, as he could have been out for a longer term,” coach Rini Coolen said.
“But it looks like he will only be out for a couple of days. He won’t play on Friday but he might be available to play next Wednesday or definitely the next game.”
Coolen has hinted that Daniel Mullen, who came on for Cornthwaite against the Fury, is the most likely candidate to partner Iain Fyfe in the centre of the Reds’ defence as United attempt to make it eight home wins in a row with victory over Melbourne Heart.
