Brisbane Roar boss Ruben Zadkovich has once again praised talented young defender Lucas Herrington but admits it’s highly likely the player will soon be leaving the club.
Herrington played a key role for his side on Thursday night as first-half goals from Sam Klein and Florin Berenguer helped the Roar defeat high-flying Western United 2-1 at Suncorp Stadium; a result which ended the club’s 410-day wait for a home victory.
17-year-old Herrington’s name has never been far from Zadkovich’s lips this season with the Roar head coach already labelling him as the ‘best defender in Australian Football’ earlier in the campaign.
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With reports recently emerging suggesting Major League Soccer (MLS) side Colorado Rapids are in advanced talks to sign the prodigious young talent, Zadkovich again waxed lyrical about his defender but this time hinted at an exit taking place sooner rather than later.
“Obviously it’s well documented, like I said at the start of the year, he’s an immense talent for Australian football,” said the Roar head head coach when asked about Herrington.
“With a pending sale for him, potentially it’ll be another example of a young player similar to Thomas Waddingham that’s done really well under my model and under this Club’s environment.
“That’ll be another big positive, if that eventuates for the club, hopefully from a financial point of view.”
If an immediate move to MLS is to eventuate then it will likely take place sooner rather than later given the transfer window for US clubs closes on Wednesday April 23.
Thursday night’s shock win for the Roar lifted them off the foot of the Isuzu UTE A-League ladder as they once again swapped places with Perth Glory with three games left to play this campaign.
And while it hasn’t been a season to remember on the field for the Queenslanders, Zadkovich believes the emergence of the current crop of talented young players is a real positive for the club.
“It might be a negative for this club at the moment, results-wise, but it will be a big positive for looking to the future,” said Zadkovich.
“I suffer a lot of the heat and a lot of the pressure and shoulder that, and that’s my responsibility for this club, that the results haven’t been what we’d like them to be but there are also other ways to measure successes.
“Sales like Waddingham and potentially a Lucas Harrington sale and then on the back of that, there will be more guys like Sam Klein, I think, can go and play overseas. Jacob Brazete can go and play overseas.
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“Nathan Amanatidis and Jimmy Durrington and these other young ones that we’re bringing through. I think that’s the shining light for us. So with the rotation in these last few games, there’ll be more opportunity for some of those guys and I’m really looking forward to seeing what they can bring.”
Up next for Brisbane is another home clash as the face Adelaide United on Tuesday night looking to making it back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
