Sydney FC head coach Ufuk Talay revealed the Isuzu UTE A-League side are on the verge of announcing new signings.
The Sky Blues, who reached the Semi-Finals last season, are keen to bolster their squad for 2024-25 following the departures of Slovakia international Robert Mak, Gabriel Lacerda, Fabio Gomes, Jack Rodwell, Adam Pavlesic, Luke Brattan (Macarthur FC), Jake Girdwood-Reich (St Louis City) and Matthew Scarcella (on loan to Newcastle Jets).
Having lost star forward Mak and striker Fabio Gomes, as well as midfield captain Luke Brattan, plus experienced utility Jack Rodwell and young gun Girdwood-Reich – who departed for a club-record fee, Talay said incomings are imminent as he provided an update on Sydney’s transfer plans.
“We are very close, there is a lot of things happening in the background,” Talay told the club’s media, with Sydney set to meet NPLM VIC outfit Oakleigh Cannons in the Australia Cup Round of 32 on July 30.
“We are looking for players in certain positions to add value to our team and hopefully in the next week or so we will have some names for the fans to see.
“We are definitely looking for a striker, someone who is going to score goals for us.
“We are looking for a number six in that position as a holding midfielder and we are looking between the lines for a number 10; a creative player to add to the stocks of scoring goals.
“Also a central defender, we are pretty young in our backline with Hayden (Matthews) and Gurdy (Aaron Gurd), so hopefully we can bring in an experience player in that space to help guide those boys.”
REMEMBER THESE NAMES: Your guide to the A-Leagues whiz kids who ended Australia’s 5-year drought
There is one player who is like a new signing at Sydney and that is young star Adrian Segecic, who is back with the Sky Blues following a season-long loan spell at Dutch second-tier outfit FC Dordrecht – Feyenoord’s feeder club.
The 20-year-old attacker has returned to the Harbour City club.
Segecic has made 22 A-Leagues appearances for Sydney and while Talay is delighted to have the Young Socceroo back, he left the door open to a potential transfer.
“It’s great to have him back,” said Talay. “The experience of being on loan in a good country, playing in a good team.
“Getting the chance to experience that will be definitely be valuable for himself and us as a team
“He is a special player, one of our special players. At the moment he is with us but things can change very quickly.”
