Ever wondered what that import at your club is doing now? Here are 10 names we’ve been asking, “where are they now?”
Vitor Saba
Formerly of Wanderers (where he won an Asian Champions League in 2014), the Brazilian hipster midfielder never really fitted in at the red and black and was off-loaded early the following year.
Now 27, Saba’s found his way to Eastern FC in the Hong Kong Premier League (where he’s set to come up against boom import Diego Forlan at Kitchee, Josep Gombau’s former club).
Eastern are Saba’s sixth club since leaving Wanderers in 2015 with the journeyman enjoying brief stints in Italy, Holland, Bahrain and Greece after leaving Wanderland.
Aleksandr Kokko
Saba’s teammate at Eastern is Kokko, the former Jets striker.
The Finnish international, 30, talked himself up in his first season at Newcastle back in 2016, saying he could rival Tim Cahill on the goalscoring charts.
That didn’t quite work out and the Lenningrad-born forward made the move from the Hunter to Hong Kong after a season.
Sergi Guardiola
With that surname, the photogenic Spaniard made a big splash at the Reds when he signed in 2016.
But the now 26-year-old didn’t quite make the impact some thought he should have made, and departed inside his first season in Adelaide. Admittedly the Reds were struggling, too.
However, since leaving Coopers Stadium in the 2017 January transfer window, he’s rediscovered his scoring mojo, first at Murcia and now, this season, at Cordoba in the Spanish Segunda Division.
Guardiola is currently on 12 goals from 19 appearances for the season under Jorge Romero at the struggling Cordoba, who sit in the relegation zone.
Milos Trifunovic
A real journeyman with an estimated 16 clubs since 2002, the now-33-year-old is still banging them in, this time for Serbian club FK Mladost Lučani.
The Serbian-born frontman joined the Jets in 2015 and the laconic and laidback forward (who was, to be fair, a decent penalty taker) scored nine times in the Hunter.
But a year later he was off to Kazakhstan’s FK Ordabasy Shymkent then to various Serbian clubs before joining Lucani.
And he’s scored eight times for his current club this season in the Serbian Super Liga.
Sergio Cirio
Another of the hugely popular Spanish contingent who brought great success to the Reds over a number of years.
After winning the Championship, the winger was part of a large clearout and he headed back to Spain in mid-2017.
House fans will be interested to know the tricky 32-year-old is now plying his trade with UD Ibiza in what is the Spanish fourth tier.
Lucky for some…
Pablo Sanchez
Will always be remembered by Reds fans for sealing the 2016 Grand Final for the Reds with a superb third goal in front of over 50,000 delirious at Adelaide Oval.
Now 34, and after two successful years in the SA capital, left shortly after that famous day when the Reds capped an incredible comeback from bottom of the league to win on the big day.
The attacker has done a Cirio and moved back to a sunny part of Spain, joining UE Llagostera-Costa Brava.
There he played regularly last season but has been restricted to 11 appearances to date this season.
Bruno Pinatares
The Uruguayan enforcer played at Wanderers in 2016/17, though never really stamped his authority on Tony Popovic’s side, playing 19 games.
The central midfielder then returned to South America where he linked up with River Plate in Montevideo, making 14 appearances. This season it’s thought he’s with Delfin FC in Ecuador.
Nebojsa Marinkovic
After around 80 appearances over four years with Perth Glory, “Nebo” returned to Serbia at the conclusion of last season.
The popular playmaker with the penchant for spectacular set pieces (he scored 19 times for Perth in the league and Cup) was a real assist King for the Glory’s forward line.
He joined RAD Beograd after he departed WA, where he’s made five appearances so far this season in Serbia.
Michael Mifsud
Once dubbed the “Maltese Messi” after a famous goal for Coventry against Manchester United.
He ended up in Melbourne with Heart/City in 2013/14 but struggled to find the net.
The pocket rocket striker returned to Malta for two seasons with Sliema Wanderers before joining Valletta where he’s been for three seasons.
Mifsud is now 36.
Interestingly, he is teammates at Valletta with Denni Rocha Dos Santos. Jets fans may remember the pint-sized Brazilian from their 2008 Championship winning side.
Henrique
One of the most popular Brazilians to have played in the Hyundai A-League, “The Slippery Fish” enjoyed wonderful success in the competition, especially at Brisbane Roar.
Henrique won three Hyundai A-League championships with Roar, scoring the winning penalty in the 2011 grand final, as well as another goal in the 2014 win over the Wanderers.
After a short stint with Adelaide United in 2016/17 (where he scored three goals from 13 appearances), Henrique moved to Thai outfit Chiangrai United, with reports he’s now switched to rivals Jumpasri United for 2018.
