Sydney FC closes in on marquee player
The hunt for Sydney FC's next marquee player is almost over, with a deal to be finalised by as early as next week.
While not prepared to discuss specifics, coach Branko Culina told Sportal on Thursday there had been developments on that front and confirmed a deal would be done within the next seven to 10 days.
"At the moment we're negotiating with a couple of players, but look, it's such an important decision the marquee player, not just for Sydney but for Australian football," Culina said.
"We want to make sure we get it right and that the person we do get is within our budget, that's obvious, and secondly that he'll be able to do the job both on and off the park."
After taking over the coaching duties from Terry Butcher, Culina orchestrated an impressive AFC Champions League campaign, where Sydney FC proved it could mix it with the best teams in Asia.
Culina says his team gained a lot of confidence out of its first foray into Asia, which he hopes will translate into a successful Hyundai A-League 2007/08 season.
"I'm looking forward to it, particularly on the back of the Asian Champions League, there's a lot of positives that came out of that," Culina said.
"We're really looking forward to the A-League due to the fact that Sydney probably had a below par second year; we're all determined to go out there and prove we're better than that."
The veteran coach said while every team is always optimistic at the start of the campaign he expects the standard of football on the domestic front will continue to improve.
"It looks like every one out there seems to be getting stronger, that all goes well for the upcoming season," he said.
Sydney FC will start pre-season training on July 2 after a five-week break, but Culina is confident his players will come back feeling refreshed and close to full fitness.
"It was important that they have a good break because we've had an extra three and a bit months after everyone else had finished (their season), so it was important that the players rest," Culina said.
"We've got an ageing squad as well, a lot of them are senior players who need a bit of a break and I don't think we would have lost too much fitness."
