Mile Jedinak in discussions to sign for A-League expansion hopeful
Dominic Bossi23 November 2018 — 8:00pm
Mile Jedinak could be playing in the A-League next season with an expansion hopeful having tabled an offer to sign the former Socceroos' captain as a marquee player. Fairfax Media understands the Macarthur-South West Sydney A-League bid have entered negotiations to sign Jedinak as their inaugural captain, should they be admitted into the A-League.
December 12 looms as D-Day for expansion hopefuls when the Football Federation Australia board are set to decide the next two teams to enter the competition and the Campbelltown-based bid is understood to be among the frontrunners to be granted a licence.
Despite being weeks away from learning their fate, the bid is not waiting on the decision before beginning their player recruitment drive. It's understood the bidding team notified the FFA this week of their intention to sign Jedinak in the event they win the race for one of the two A-League licences on offer.
The bidding team is understood to have already initiated talks with Jedinak and his representatives and will seek to sign the defensive midfielder directly from English championship club Aston Villa during the off-season, pending their acceptance into the A-League.
Members of the bidding team declined to comment about the approach for Jedinak when contacted on Friday but information seen by Fairfax Media suggests they are in serious discussions to sign the man who lead the Socceroos in the 2014 and 2018 World Cups. The 34-year-old is contracted to Aston Villa until June 2019 but has struggled for consistent first team football at the Birmingham club this season. Jedinak is understood to be open to returning to Australia in the near future, especially to lead what would be a new A-League franchise in his home region. The Macarthur-South West Sydney bid is financially backed by property development company Lang Walker and will pull out all stops to sign Jedinak at the end of the English Championship season.
Jedinak already has close ties to the South West Sydney bid which includes former president of Sydney United, Sam Krslovic, among its directors. Jedinak is a former youth player of Sydney United and went on to captain the club, making more than 80 appearances before given an opportunity to play in the A-League in 2006.
Entering the twilight of his career, Jedinak is understood to have an eye on becoming a coach after retiring from playing and is eager to begin those steps towards management in Australia and close to home in South West Sydney. Despite the limited opportunities on offer, the A-League remains a proven fertile ground for aspiring coaches having witnessed the likes of Tony Popovic, Paul Okon, John Aloisi, Kevin Muscat, Steve Corica and Mark Rudan progress from playing in the competition to the coaching ranks.
Macarthur-South West Sydney's proposal will likely include the option for Jedinak to take up a future coaching job with the club, beginning his pathway to a head coaching role once he decides to call time on his playing career.
Jedinak has spent the past three seasons at Villa Park before previously captaining English Premier League side Crystal Palace, spending five seasons with south London club. He moved to the Eagles from Turkey where he had spells with Antalyaspor and Genclebirligi, whom he joined from Central Coast Mariners in 2009.
Jedinak made 79 appearances for the Socceroos between 2008 and 2018, scoring 20 goals before retiring from internationals. He was handed the captain's armband in 2014 and lead the country through the last two World Cup campaigns, in Brazil and Russia.
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer...league-expansion-hopeful-20181123-p50hyr.html