Perth Glory coach Ian Ferguson has denied speculation his club already has an agreement to sign Gold Coast United striker Shane Smeltz for next season.
Ferguson has admitted the club want the New Zealand international striker, and recent Perth media reports suggested he had already signed, but the Glory coach said they still had a way to go in their pursuit of the 29-year-old.
“Shane’s a player we’re very interested in, but he’s still got the finals to compete in. At this time, we-ve not signed him,” Ferguson said.
“We are hopefully going to be speaking to him pretty soon … he’s a proven goal scorer. He-s a player I-m sure every A-League club will be chasing.”
“It would be a great acquisition for this club if we could get him, but at this moment, we haven’t got him.”
Smeltz scored against Italy in the 2010 World Cup and has experience playing in the English lower leagues and Turkish Super League.
While their hunt for Smeltz continues, Perth have confirmed former Adelaide United winger Travis Dodd will be joining the Glory next season, which Ferguson said was great news for the club.
“He’s one I’ve liked for a few years. To get the chance to get him here was a major coup,” he said.
“He’s got pace, he’s strong, he’s a good crosser of the ball, he retains the ball well and he’s a good leader. He ticks all of the boxes.”
“I want energy up and down both sides and he’ll bring that.”
Dodd joins Evan Berger, Dean Heffernan and goalkeepers Danny Vukovic and Neil Young as new players to commit to Perth.
Ferguson said negotiations with marquee player Robbie Fowler were still ongoing, but confirmed the former Liverpool striker may feature as both a player and a coach next season.
“We’ve made it clear that we want him to stay … he’s got great experience and great contacts throughout the world and he can bring a lot of good players and also do a job here. So he could help us a bit in both worlds,” Ferguson said.
“He’s gone home at this point and he’s going to talk it over with his family and then come back and give us an answer.”
Ferguson, who coached North Queensland in their inaugural A-League season, said he had sympathy for the Fury and the region after the club’s decline.
