Suddenly, Sydney FC’s transfer window slow burn has ignited.
In the past week, the Sky Blues have welcomed four new signings to their Isuzu UTE A-League squad, the most recent being 29-year-old English winger Joe Lolley from English Premier League outfit Nottingham Forest.
He becomes the fifth off-season arrival at Sydney FC, along with Slovakia international Robert Mak, exciting young Australian forward Alex Parsons, former England international Jack Rodwell and Spanish full-back Diego Caballo.
The Sky Blues squad is starting to take shape, and Lolley – a Premier League goalscorer with extensive experience in the English Championship – looms as one of the key figures in head coach Steve Corica’s plans to return his team to the finals after a dismal 2021-22 campaign.
Lolley spent the past four-and-a-half years at Forest, with his blistering form between 2018-2020 helping the winger become a popular figure at The City Ground.
But a string of injuries have curtailed his impact over the past two seasons. In 2020 Lolley detailed his career-long struggle with muscle compartment syndrome, which occurs when pressure builds within muscles, restricting the blood flow to the area and potentially damaging the muscle itself and nearby nerves.
“I’ll explain it because I don’t think it’s been explained very well. It’s a problem I’ve had my whole career… it’s not shin splints,” Lolley said. “The first few games after lockdown (in 2020) was brilliant but then I just sort of broke down.
“It was dreadful to play with. I pretty much couldn’t run.”
He now departs England after contributing to the club’s promotion back to the Premier League for the first time in 23 years.
READ: LOLLEY SWAPS PREMIER LEAGUE’S NEW BOYS FOR SYDNEY FC
Lolley played from the start of Forest’s first pre-season hit-out against Coventry City in early July – he was forced off through injury in the 37th minute, despite his best efforts to remain on the park.
It proved the last first-team appearance he would make for the club destined for the Premier League.
Head coach Steve Cooper explained to The Athletic why Lolley dropped out of his plans ahead of the 2022-23 Premier League campaign: “It is not about any individual. It is about trying to prepare a squad and a team that we want to commit to for the season ahead.
“Part of the preparation is the training and coaching model we use, which is, more or less, 20 players involved every day. It can vary. But when you bring new players in, you have to move players on.”
Cooper added: “It can be (difficult to move players on), yes, but at the same time, it is part of the role. Part of being a leader is about making the right decisions for the team and for the club. I am happy to do that.
“It is the natural process; it is the turnaround you go through when you finish one season and prepare for another. It is as simple as that.”
Lolley joined Forest in January, 2018 after four-and-a-half seasons at Huddersfield Town. The season prior to his departure, he helped Huddersfield into the Premier League, and went on to make six appearances in the English top flight.
He scored a brilliant goal against West Ham in his final appearance for The Terriers. That goal was assisted by Socceroos midfielder Aaron Mooy.
Two weeks later Lolley was on the move, joining Forest in the January window of 2018. He went on to score three goals and three assists in 16 games.
Over the following two seasons, he produced the best form of his career.
He notched 11 goals and 11 assists in 2018-19, a season highlighted by a trip to Villa Park to face his boyhood club Aston Villa. The game ended 5-5; Lolley assisted four goals and scored Forest’s fifth: a long-range left-footed strike which earned him Goal of the Season honours.
He went on to win the club’s Player of the Season award in his first full season at The City Ground.
That form carried into 2019-20, where a further nine goals and eight assists came from his 42 league appearances. In those two Championship seasons combined, Lolley enjoyed nearly 7,000 minutes of game time, played 88 games, scored 20 goals and assisted 19 more.
But in the last two seasons, Lolley has seen his minutes in the side dwindle. He’s made just 26 starts in 57 games since the start of the 2020-21 campaign, scoring one goal and assisting three more.
His last contribution in competitive action for Forest came in last season’s Championship play-offs.
Facing Sheffield United in the semi-finals, Lolley played 21 minutes in Forest’s first leg win, and 49 minutes more in the second leg defeat. With scores tied at 3-3 at the end of the two legs, Forest ultimately progressed to the playoff final via a penalty shoot-out in which Lolley missed his own spot-kick.
Lolley was an unused substitute at Wembley Stadium as Forest won 1-0 against his former side Huddersfield to end the club’s 23-year wait for a return to the Premier League.
That return has coincided with an overhaul of the Forest squad. Lolley became the 18th player to depart the club either permanently or on loan this off-season. He arrives in Sydney 10 days ahead of his 30th birthday with nearly 300 appearances in all competitions to his name accrued in England.
He joins Sydney FC on a two-year-deal, a club which have come under scrutiny of their own this off-season after seeing a similar number of departures to that of Lolley’s former club.
But his signature, along with the arrival of Mak, Parsons, Rodwell and Caballo, will have Sydney fans feeling optimistic about what’s to come as the Sky Blues look to usher in a new era at the brand-new Allianz Stadium.
“I’m extremely excited to be joining Sydney FC and to be coming to play in this amazing new stadium in the heart of Sydney,” Lolley said as he was unveiled as Sydney’s newest star.
“I know there’s a lot of expectation to win every season which is a great challenge, and they’ve got a fantastic plan in place to do that – which really attracted me to make the move.
“I really appreciate the intent shown by the club in bringing me to Sydney.
“The club expects to win and I’m looking forward to getting on the pitch with the lads this season.”
SYDNEY FC – INS, OUTS AND RE-SIGNINGS
In: Diego Caballo (CE Sabadell), Adrian Segecic (promoted), Corey Hollman (promoted), Jake Girdwood-Reich (promoted), Jaiden Kucharski (promoted), Aaron Gurd (promoted), Robert Mak (Ferencvaros), Alex Parsons (Brisbane Roar), Jack Rodwell (Western Sydney Wanderers), Joe Lolley (Nottingham Forest)
Out: Milos Ninkovic, Bobo (retired), Michael Zullo, Kosta Barbarouses (Wellington Phoenix), Luciano Narsingh, Trent Buhagiar (Newcastle Jets), Mustafa Amini (Perth Glory), Harry Van der Saag (Adelaide United), Callum Talbot (Melbourne City), Anton Mlinaric (Brisbane Roar), Liam McGing, Chris Zuvela, Calem Nieuwenhof (Western Sydney Wanderers), Ben Warland (Adelaide United), Elvis Kamsoba
Re-signings: Adam Pavlesic, Andrew Redmayne, Rhyan Grant, Jake Girdwood-Reich, Corey Hollman, Patrick Wood, Alex Wilkinson, Luke Brattan, Paulo Retre, James Donachie
