Perth Glory coach Alistair Edwards insists young talent Daniel De Silva will remain with the club following his breakout performances at the U-20 World Cup.
Perth Glory coach Alistair Edwards insists young talent Daniel De Silva will remain with the club following his breakout performances at the U-20 World Cup.
De Silva put in some eye-catching displays representing the Young Socceroos at the tournament being staged in Turkey, which are sure to attract foreign interest. However Edwards says his young gun will only be sold if a bid is made by one of Europe-s top clubs.
“If the likes of Barcelona and others come knocking on the door, that might change the picture. But just to go overseas for the sake of it – he’s better off staying here,” said Edwards.
“Then you go away as a senior, experienced, developed player, as opposed to another promising youngster.”
Glory has reportedly spent the week rebuffing interest in De Silva after his man-of-the-match performance against Colombia in the Young Socceroos World Cup opener.
The 16-year-old, who scored the spectacular opener and his first goal in the green and gold, was the youngest player at the tournament. He also became Australia-s youngest-ever debutant at an U-20 World Cup.
The prodigious talent, who made his A-League debut for Perth Glory in last season-s 2-1 home win over Sydney FC, came close to signing with Everton last year but the deal collapsed due to problems obtaining a visa.
Reports have suggested that David Moyes has renewed his interest in De Silva since he has taken over at Manchester United but Perth claim these are wide of the mark.
Edwards, who coached De Silva in the Australian U-17-s before taking over at Glory, said he had the potential to be one of the best players Australia has produced.
However he insists that De Silva would be best served continuing his development at Perth Glory, where he has two years to run on the contract he signed in February 2013.
“People now know who Daniel De Silva is. It’s something we have to manage. Danny has great potential, but he’s far from the finished product,” said Edwards.
This development continues this week when Perth commence their pre-season training.
Australia was eliminated from the U-20 World Cup after going down 2-1 to hosts Turkey in their final group match.
