News broke last night that Sydney FC international marquee and winner of the 2014/2015 Hyundai A-League Golden Boot, Marc Janko, would not be re-signing with the club for the next season.
The Sky Blues announced that they would not be re-signing the Austrian international due to the weight of commitment his place as national team captain would have on the upcoming A-League season.
Head coach Graham Arnold praised the influence of his leading No.9, but admitted a busy 2015/2016 schedule contributed to the club’s final decision.
“He will miss a number of A-league games next season due to international duty with no FIFA breaks in the A-League. Add that to our busier schedule, including Asian Champions League commitments and after lengthy consideration we have come to this decision,” he said.
The Austrian captain won the hearts of the Cove faithful after snubbing a dream friendly against Brazil for club commitments in November of last year and after posting this from his private Twitter account it has become clear that the classy forward in fact, wanted to stay:
The love affair between player and fan base continued throughout January and February as Janko plundered an incredible 12 goals to see him top the scorers charts.
However, with UEFA’s European Championship scheduled for June of next year, Janko would be unable to completely commit to Sydney FC without the FIFA breaks that are in place for many of Europe’s domestic competitions.
The club is likely to come under some scrutiny following their decision and general handling of the matter.
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Janko had returned home to Austria following Sydney’s Grand Final loss for his own wedding with his future still at the club still very much in the dark.
It is news that has hit many Sydney FC fans hard after a relatively successful week of negotiations and the re-signing of Senegalese midfielder Mickael Tavares and a deal in principle agreed for his cousin, Jacques Faty.
However, Sydney FC still have much work to do if they are to secure the signings of other off-contract stars such as Milos Dimitrejivic, Bernie Ibini and Shane Smeltz.
A Janko-less Sky Blue side will host none other than Tottenham on Saturday evening in the first of two high-profile friendly matches.
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