Adelaide United FC has welcomed potential future signing Lloyd Owusu to Adelaide, after the striker touched down in the city of churches on Tuesday.
Owusu is in Adelaide to look at the club and the city, following The Reds’ expression of interest to add the 32-year-old English-born former Ghanaian international to their squad.
Owusu watched The Reds’ training session at Thebarton Oval and contemplated the possibility of relocating from England to Adelaide to play in the Hyundai A-League.
“It’s lovely to be fair,” Owusu said on his first impressions of Adelaide.
“I’ve always wanted to come to Australia and see this beautiful country and Adelaide is nice.”
With a proven goal scoring record, Owusu, who has spent the past couple of months on loan at English club Brighton & Hove Albion, is reported to have a number of other offers on the table in England as well as the one from Adelaide United, but he says he is attracted to Australian club because it has shown a genuine interest in obtaining his services.
“They (Adelaide United) want me, that’s the main thing. It’s good to feel wanted as a player. I mean if someone puts their arm around you as a player you know you’ve got to produce your best performances,” Owusu said.
“I don’t want to be going to a team where, don’t get me wrong the money could be good, but I could be the fourth or fifth choice striker. I’m not really looking for that at the moment. I’m at a point in my career where I believe I know I can keep going, keep kicking on and my goal scoring record shows that.”
“Brighton have offered me a one year deal with a further year option, but ideally I’m looking for a two year deal if possible. But like I said, I am going to weigh up all my options, and see what’s right for me at the end of the day.”
Owusu is unlikely to train with United’s squad during his visit, but he admitted to being impressed by the standard of the session and said it was good to catch up with Paul Reid, who he knows from Reid’s time playing with Brighton & Hove Albion.
“It was good. The boys put in a good session, really similar to what we do back in England. It was good to see them doing some conditioning work, which I thought was brilliant because the more you condition your body the better prevention of injury you’ve got, which is important for me at my age because I want to be out there playing as much as I can and performing.”
He is unlikely to make a final decision on his playing future before he returns to England and consoles with his family, however he says money is not a determining factor.
“It’s not all about money. People might think that an English player is coming over here thinking he is going to get loads of money but with no disrespect, the money I could get here I could get the same in England as well, so it has got nothing to do about money. It has got to do with that desire and will to be the number one striker.”
“It’s a massive decision at the end of the day because it is not as if Adelaide is around the corner from home. There a load of factors we have to look at and hopefully we can come to the right one.”
Adelaide United’s qualification for the 2010 AFC Champions League could prove to be a further enticement to securing Owusu, who said the prestigious Asian club competition did have significant appeal.
“At the end of the day it’s massive football (the AFC Champions League). To put on your CV that you’ve played in the Asian Champions League, it might not be the European but then again, it’s probably more watched than the European Champions League,” Owusu said.
