Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold is close to securing his first January signing revealing the club is a “long way down the path” to securing a former international midfielder.
The Sky Blues have endured a horror injury crisis over the last couple of months losing Ali Abbas, Corey Gameiro, Sasa Ognenovski and Nick Carle to season-ending injuries.
Arnold has spent countless hours talking to European agents and scouring internet sites looking for top quality reinforcements to bolster his ailing squad.
And it appears they are close to getting their first man, with a former international defensive midfielder expected to sign in coming days.
“We’re just waiting for a tick on that,” Arnold said on Friday.
“He has a good pedigree. If that happens, we’ll be very happy.
“Milos Dimitrijevic and Terry Antonis have done a great job in there but they’re both attack-minded, so I need someone who can come in and add a bit of bite to the midfield, which is what you need in the A-League these days.
“I’m looking at one foreigner and one local player to bring some extra depth and get back to where we were in pre-season with two players for every position.”
Before Arnold can worry about that his Sky Blues have to get through a clash with Newcastle Jets in Wollongong on Saturday.
While Sydney are in a rut with just one win from their last nine matches, the Jets are in a worse spot with just one win for the season and struggling in defence.
Phil Stubbins side have conceded an Hyundai A-League high 28 goals from just 13 games and are coming off a heavy 5-2 drubbing against Melbourne City on Tuesday.
“There are two ways of reacting for Newcastle after a heavy loss,” Arnold said.
“One is to come out firing, wanting to prove people wrong, or to be still sulking.
“But I know Phil Stubbins, and players like Joel Griffiths, Ben Kantarovski and David Carney, and they’ll be looking for redemption.”
