Western Sydney Wanderers have recouped transfer fees for four stars. While it leaves a void, it provides opportunities for new faces and Isuzu UTE A-League prospects.
There is a burning question at Western Sydney Wanderers; How do they replace Nicolas Milanovic, Zac Sapsford, Oscar Priestman and Marcus Younis?
The star quartet leave a notable void in Western Sydney after being lured to Europe. Milanovic was signed by Scottish Premiership outfit Aberdeen after winning the 2024-25 Johnny Warren Medal, Dundee United prised Sapsford from CommBank Stadium and Motherwell came calling for Priestman, while 11-time Danish champions Brondby secured young gun Younis.
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While academy graduate Younis spent last season on loan at Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven, Socceroos hopeful Milanovic, Sapsford and Priestman were instrumental in Western Sydney’s resurgence under Alen Stajcic.
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No team scored more goals than the Wanderers in 2024-25 with 58 in the regular season. Milanovic (12 goals and eight assists) and Sapsford (eight goals and four assists) had a hand in a combined 30 as Priestman provided a steady influence in the heart of midfield.
The Wanderers, who recouped transfer fees for all four players, have since brought in A-Leagues great Kosta Barbarouses from Wellington Phoenix and fellow forward Alou Kuol via Central Coast Mariners. Championship-winning midfielder Steven Ugarkovic also arrived from Melbourne City prior to Priestman’s departure.
There is, however, still room for opportunities at Wanderland, where an exciting young core remains in Alex Bonetig, Anthony Pantazopoulos, Dylan Scicluna and Aydan Hammond.
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“I look at Melbourne Storm in rugby league – they’ve been at the top for 20 odd years with Craig Bellamy,” Stajcic said last season. “I look at the Penrith Panthers in the rugby league.
“You look at what Manchester United did under Alex Ferguson. I’m not comparing us to them for one second. I’m just saying the platforms they built within their teams and within their cultures are built for long-term success.
“This is the club that should have that for me. We’re the club best suited to have all those things in place, from our junior Academy to fee free for the kids, to the nursery of talent around this whole geography to the fan base, to young aspiring families who live in the western suburbs, to the migrant population.”
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Focusing in the midfield area post-Priestman, Ugarkovic was partnering veteran Josh Brillante in the centre of the park during Western Sydney’s Australia Cup run but there is still the matter of a star man returning.
Dylan Scicluna – a former Wolves and Aston Villa youngster – was one of the best midfielders in the A-Leagues and had earned a maiden senior call-up to the Malta national team before suffering a serious knee injury in December last year.
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The 21-year-old, who signed a two-year contract extension in February, will be like a new signing for the Wanderers when he does return from that anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, having emerged from the fringes in 2024-25.
“He’s obviously just starting out on his A-League journey,” said Stajcic on Scicluna previously.
“He’s really just starting to cement a spot in the group, he hasn’t had that before and last year he played a couple of games, mainly off the bench and in different positions as well.
“But he’s becoming one of the key players in the league, I think. His attributes are good and I think I said in a press conference before: he’s got some things he needs to clean up in his game but his good attributes are really strong and powerful.
“If he keeps developing and progressing, in the next two or three years I think he’s going to be one of the best players in the A-League.”
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Boasting seasoned pros in Barbarouses, Kuol, Socceroo Brandon Borrello and Bozhidar Kraev, there are also some exciting prospects emerging in Sydney’s west. You just have to look at the Wanderers academy.
Youth has been given a chance on Stajcic’s watch and we could see more youngsters on the A-Leagues stage in the future as the Wanderers look to unearth the next Milanovic, Sapsford or Priestman.
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There is the club’s NPLM NSW captain Jesse Cameron, who has impressed in the Wanderers academy at first-grade level in 2025.
“[Jesse] Cameron is a top pro, he is always switched on and the best person to lead this team in their fight to stay in the league,” said Wanderers’ NPL head coach Richard Cardozo via NPL NSW after last week’s big win for relegation-threatened Western Sydney.
Hammond, Tristan Arrarte and Johnny Pavlovic were on target in the 3-0 win over St George FC. For the latter two, the goals represented the pair’s first in first grade this season.
Arrarte, who has been called up by Timor-Leste’s Under-23 team, had netted 12 goals for Western Sydney’s U20 side heading into the weekend’s first-grade fixture. As for talented Australia youth international Pavlovic, he had nine U20 goals to his name before the weekend.
They’re two young talents trending in the right direction in Western Sydney, along with Awan Kuol. He has six goals this season having tallied a return of 17 in 2024 on the back of his 20-goal campaign for Western Sydney’s U18 and U20s in 2023.
“I’ve said it for a long time, we have the best chance of being the most successful club in the country, and it’s up to us to put all that together,” said Stajcic.
