It’s summer in a lot of the world, which suggests things are really hot within the transfer market. It can also be time for A-League clubs to rethink their recruitment and take a look at Asian additions. The World Game website has seven such suggestions, listed below:
Shinji Okazaki (Japan)
The Japan international has already been linked with a move to the A-League, but there may be loads of competition to secure his services. It’s easy to see why, and it is not simply because he’s a free agent. The 33-year-old helped Leicester City to a fairy-tale Premier League victory, can still rating goals at any level and continues to be a crucial figure in Japan and Asia.
His work ethic and energy make the difference and his presence could be a giant name if Keisuke Honda could possibly be followed. At this stage of his profession, Australia may appeal.
Udanta Singh (India)
The right-winger is just 23 years old, but he has been playing on the pitch for several years. He is a mainstay at certainly one of South Asia’s leading clubs, Bengaluru, and an exciting talent who still has the potential to enhance. There have been a couple of waves of interest within the Indian international recently, nevertheless it hasn’t been very exciting. Australia could be a step up for the player. The Indian market is of great value, and much more so if the 2 countries can strengthen their football relations.
Safawi Rasid (Malaysia)
It may already be too late for Australia for this clever winger who, on the age of twenty-two, has already established himself as Malaysia’s top talent. Since bursting onto the scene, he has been scouted by clubs in Japan and South Korea, but no move has been made, partly because Malaysians haven’t traveled outside Southeast Asia with much success up to now. Perhaps Safawi can be the one to interrupt the mold, but when Australian clubs are going to make a move, time is of the essence. The Johor striker is starting to seem on European radars.
Vu Van Thanh (Vietnam)
It’s still surprising that despite the large strides Vietnam has made lately, Asia’s biggest leagues have yet to actually reach importing talent. Japan and Korea have shown cursory interest, but the actual fact is that there are loads of great players within the S-shaped country in Southeast Asia.
Van Tranh is a fast and aggressive full-back who can play on each side when needed, but is more fascinated with playing up and down the wing for the total 90 minutes. It could be low-cost and would attract fans (in Southeast Asia in addition to Australia) and the coaches could be very cheerful.
Maulana Vikri (Indonesia)
The striker took the AFF Under-19 Championship by storm in 2017, scoring eight goals, and was the talk of the town in Southeast Asia, with interest from Australia even reported on the time. Instead, Egy – who is just 18 – went to Poland to affix Lechia Gdańsk. Game time has been hard to return by in Eastern Europe and a move to Australia could possibly be the right solution for certainly one of Indonesia’s biggest stars.
Koo Ja-cheol (South Korea)
He is just 30 years old, but once nicknamed “Koopard” (on account of his resemblance to a certain former Chelsea and England midfielder), he played over 70 times for his country before retiring from the national team. This was on account of traveling from Germany, where he has lived since 2011, back to East Asia. The midfielder, who’s now a free agent, can be signed in the end, but Australia is nearly as good a spot as any. Aggressive, experienced and with a watch for goal, Koo is a frontrunner who could be perfect for the A-League and an asset to any team.
Chan Vathanaka (Cambodia)
Melbourne Victory could actually have made more use of Keisuke Honda’s connections to Cambodia. There are loads of talented players within the country and Vathanaka is taken into account the very best and star football player in Southeast Asia. Previous stays in Japan and Malaysia were unsuccessful, but there have been extenuating circumstances. There’s still loads of potential there, with CV11 being the headliner and stuffed with attacking mischief. It could be a risk, but not an expensive one. It would even be a dangerous undertaking, which we monitored very closely at home.
source: world game
