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No Alessandro Del Piero. No Emile Heskey. No Juninho.
No “wow” factor surrounding the A-League’s newest batch of imports to ignite the passion of the fans, get bums on seats and attract the sort of media attention Italian legend Del Piero achieved during his two-year stint here in 2012 to 2014.
The emergence of Chinese club football and the extraordinary wealth of a number of clubs in China’s Super League has impacted heavily on the A-League over the past three or four seasons.
The big name attractions are now well beyond the reach of Australian clubs. Who can compete with the obscene multimillion-dollar deals the Chinese have thrown at Carlos Tevez, Hulk, Oscar, Ramires, Alex Teixeira, Jackson Martinez and Graziano Pelle?
It has left A-League clubs to think long and hard about how they can more wisely spend their marquee or visa signing dollars.
The name of the game now is unearthing a diamond in the mud. Established A-League imports Bruno Fornaroli, Diego Castro, Milos Ninkovic, Thomas Broich and Besart Berisha fit that bill.
Relative unknowns before coming to the A-League, they have gone on to forge outstanding club careers in Australia, exciting the fans with their incredible talent and eventually being elevated to marquee status.
Of course, finding the right players can be hit and miss and, given the massive turnover of visa players over the years, there have been numerous poor options and several failures.
The Chinese situation has forced clubs to be much more selective. And it has paid off. Look at Sydney FC who have come up trumps after signing Serbian Ninkovic (2015-16), Brazilian Bobo and Dutchman Jordy Buijs. All three figured prominently in the Sky Blues’ phenomenal success last season in winning the Premier’s Plate-Championship double.
Perth Glory’s Diego Castro and Andy Keogh, Roy O’Donovan (Central Coast), Spaniard’s Alan Baro (Melbourne Victory), Isaias and Marcelo Carrusca (Adelaide United) have also have tremendous influence in recent times.
This season will again see a huge influx of visa players. Nineteen new names will make or break the season for their clubs. Looking at the quality and credentials of the imports, most of the A-League coaches have done an excellent job in filling their visa allocations.
Where once Brazilian players were the target for A-League clubs — there have been almost 40 play in the competition — we are now seeing a heavy reliance on Spaniards. Some 19 have found their way to the A-League since it kicked off in 2005, most of them over the past four years.
Western Sydney again lead the charge, filling three of their visa spots with Spanish players — Oriol Riera, Raul Llorente and Alvaro Cejudo.
Based on what we have seen in the pre-season and FFA Cup, the Wanderers appear to have done good business. Riera, a tall striker with a glittering CV, has been knocking in goals for fun so far — two of them came in the FFA Cup win over Blacktown City on Wednesday night.
Not much is known about Perth Glory signing Xavi Torres, but indications from the west are that the 30-year-old midfielder, who has had plenty of La Liga experience and played a couple of games for Barcelona early in his career, is top drawer. He was recommended by Castro.
The Dutch influence in Australian football is as strong as ever. Five new Dutchmen will grace the fields this season, two of them — Tom Hiariej and Wout Brama — with Central Coast Mariners, who also have Spaniard Asdrubal on the books.
Of the trio, the 31-year-old Brama looks a special signing. He is a former Dutch international (three games) and had a stellar career in the Dutch Eredivisie with FC Twente, FC Utrecht and PEC Zwolle.
Victory have picked up a useful buy in Dutchman Leroy George. The 30-year-old midfielder comes to the club after a good career in The Netherlands and a couple of seasons in Turkey.
Massimo Maccarone is probably the biggest name to come to the national competition this season. The Italian has signed with Brisbane Roar after a wonderful career playing in the Italian Serie A for the likes of Empoli and Sampdoria while he also had a stint with Middlesbrough in the English Premier League.
He might be 38 but Maccarone still has the killer instincts of a seasoned striker and has being doing well in the pre-season with the Queenslanders.
The interesting signings belong to Sydney FC and Newcastle Jets. Defending champions Sydney appear to have a real “wow” factor in Polish signing Adrian Mierzejewski — the first Pole to play with an A-League club.
The attacking midfielder/winger has been capped 40 times for Poland and has already made a huge impression in just three or four appearances with the club during the pre-season.
Mierzejewski, who has played in his homeland, Turkey and the Middle East, is quick, powerful, skilful and has wonderful vision and a superb passing game. He is already a hit with the Sydney FC faithful.
The Jets will field the A-League’s first Venezuelan in Ronald Vargas. Jets officials are excited with the 30-year-old, who has been capped 22 times for his country and has played in Belgium and Turkey.
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