Wellington Phoenix head coach Giancarlo ‘Chiefy’ Italiano said he will sit down for talks with veteran star Kosta Barbarouses to discuss his future at the Isuzu UTE A-League club.
Barbarouses re-signed with the Phoenix ahead of the 2024-25 season, with the option for a further season in Wellington.
The 35-year-old has enjoyed a history-making season in a Wellington side that missed out on the Finals Series this term, becoming the first New Zealand player and just the fourth in Isuzu UTE A-League history to score 100 goals in the competition.
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Barbarouses also surpassed Craig Goodwin as the top assist provider in the league’s history.
On the day his new contract was announced, Italiano was asked if he was confident Barbarouses would remain at the Phoenix in 2025-26.
“That’s a conversation that I need to have with him over the next couple of weeks,” Barbarouses told reporters.
“That’s really going to come down to what his expectations are and I’ll discuss with him in the next couple of weeks.”
Barbarouses has scored 10 goals in 24 games for the Phoenix heading into the final two games of the season, after bagging 13 during the club’s historic Semi-Final run last term.
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Italiano added: “Kosta has always been important.
“Last season, Kosta was a little bit out in the wilderness from Uffie’s (Ufuk Talay) last year in the sense that he wasn’t really starting, in and out of the team.
“He started with me last season as one of the front three attackers and then we moved him out as a nine. For a large part, we built the team around him last season and it’s no different this season.
“So still an important player.”
Phoenix director of football Shaun Gill added: “So Kosta contract was a little bit complex when we did it 12 months ago.
“There is an option in there for Kosta. So now we just need to sit with Kosta and work through, whether Wellington Phoenix is where he wants to call home for the next 12 months.”
He continued: “Kosta is Kosta Barbarouses, right? He’s been an incredible import in the A- League for other clubs. He’s won the title numerous times. He’s played a number of games for the All whites.
“He’s a Wellington boy. He’s a fan favourite, and he’s an experienced A-League player and any club would want that.”
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Wellington are 11th and out of the finals picture this season but Italiano will be back for a third campaign in 2025-26.
Italiano has re-committed for another season as he was set to come off contract, while there is an option for a further year.
The 42-year-old Australian boasts the best winning percentage of any Wellington boss despite missing out on the 2024-25 Finals Series.
Italiano oversaw the club’s most successful season last term when they agonisingly missed out on a maiden Premiership in second spot and a Grand Final berth.
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But it has been a challenging season for Italiano and the Phoenix, who have struggled to match the highs of last term following the departures of stars Alex Paulsen, Ben Old, Finn Surmann and Bozhidar Kraev among others but it has been a campaign of learning for Italiano and Co.
For Italiano, he has “unfinished business”.
Asked if he feared the club were not going to retain him, Italiano replied: “I’ve been here now six years. Last season we had the best season we’ve ever had in club history.
“This season we’ve had a lot of turmoil, a lot of ups and downs, and a lot of things that we didn’t plan for and we got through.
“If the club felt they needed to go down another path, then so be it but they felt as though I’m the right man to take the club forward.”
When pressed if there were was an “obvious” area he wanted to address in the squad, Italiano said: “Probably looking at bringing in one or two creative options.
“Potentially a defender or two. But again, those things will pan out over the next month or two.”
Gill was also asked about the off-season ahead and whether he is confident the Phoenix have the squad right now without additions to make the Finals Series next season.
“We do have some spots available. As it stands now, it’s well publicised again that there’s a couple of players leaving, one of those as a visa player. So we will have two visa spots. You know, one of those might be filled by Chico. Again, that’s for discussion to come.
“There’s enough there that if we have the same squad, we have some ability to bring some more players in. Visa players do tend to get better in the second year. So, once we are able to bring in another two visa players, and we have the players we have, get the balance right for the squad and I think, yeah, definitely we can. We can be better.
“The other thing we do have now too is, you’ve got players like (Isaac Hughes) Hughesy, have had another 20-odd games in the A-League. Corbyn Piper, if we’re able to re-sign him as well, has had good exposure now. Matt Sheridan’s another one has had a lot of football.
“If you sort of think back to last year with the likes of Ben Old and Finn Surman and AP (Alex Paulsen), we now have a group of kids that are 12 months off, right?
“We feel like with that jump, with a bit more recruitment, top six should be a definite goal.”
