23 Jan 2016 - 9:28am
Gersbach offered long-term European deal

Exciting young Sydney FC defender Alex Gersbach has been offered a long-term deal by unnamed European club who this week made a formal approach to Sky Blues chiefs.

By Dave Lewis

It's understood the club in question is willing to wait until June for Gersbach to join them, should a deal be hammered out in the region of $500,000.

One of the hottest properties in Australian football, the Olyroos flier – who doesn’t turn 19 until May - is out of contract at the end of the season but has been free to negotiate with clubs since late last year.

In light of his contract status, it’s an approach Sydney may find hard to resist should Gersbach decide the team is the right one for him to progress with in the coming seasons, especially since it does not want to deprive the Sky Blues of his services by spiriting him away during this month's transfer window.

A member of the Australian Under-23’s team which fell short of qualifying for Rio 2016 in Doha on Thursday, Gersbach has made no secret of his desire to test himself on Europe’s bigger stage, sooner rather than later in his blossoming career.

He sought to play down speculation late last year over his destiny, insisting he was focused purely on week to week football.

With nine appearances under his belt so far trhis season, he is expected to be in contention for the Sky Blues’ monster clash against Melbourne Victory on Tuesday night.

Sydney FC CEO Tony Pignata did not respond when contacted for comment on the club’s reaction to the offer.

If true it is going to be a big loss to Sydney FC. he has only had one season in the top flight in Australia, perhaps it is too soon for him to be moving overseas. 500k compared to other A-League transfer deals seems quite good but really I still think young Australian talent is undervalued. That is in part because there is now domestic transfer market to push valuations up.

like the player a lot and all the best to him. 'Cuse my ignorance but what team is Buli 2? Obviously a Reserve team but no idea who they are. Can someone enlighten me please.