New Melbourne City signing Alex Wilkinson says coming back to the A-League was the best decision after weighing up his options.
Wilkinson, 31, whose contract expired at South Korean club Jeonbuk Motors in December, arrived at the club on Sunday for his first training session. Simultaneously, City were battling against Newcastle upon his arrival.
Wilkinson was linked to clubs in China as well as various A-League clubs. Wilkinson revealed he spoke to a number of individuals at Melbourne City and that the move was too good to turn down.
“City was an obvious choice for me. An exciting club, the facilities are unbelievable. The club made me feel wanted,” Wilkinson said.
“I spoke to the coaching staff and they were all keen to get me down here, spoke to a couple of the boys and had nothing but positive things to say about the club.
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“It’s great to be involved with a club that’s so ambitious and a club that’s chasing their first title. They’ve got a squad that can challenge this year, if I can help in any way that would be fantastic.”
The tall defender also conceded he was thinking about his family when he signed for Melbourne City.
Wilkinson is a father, with a three-year-old boy. Wife Brooke is also expecting another baby in three months.
“I’ve got a son and a wife who is pregnant due in May. If I was to go back overseas, I wouldn’t be around for the birth,” he said.
“It would have been difficult, most likely having to miss that, as well as my wife and son for the remainder of the year for the travel issue.
“Family definitely weighed into it, just the perfect time to come back to the A-League, it just ticked all the boxes for me personally.”
City’s new signing could mean a potential fix to their problems in defence. City’s attacking play has made them one of the most exciting teams to watch, but they have looked fractured at the back. leading to many goals conceded.
Along with other new signing Osama Malik, City now have more experienced players to choose down back, leaving young Jack Clisby fighting for a spot.
City have only kept one clean sheet in season 2015-16 but have also scored the most goals, totalling 44.
It could be a mouth-watering clash this weekend, with the Melbourne Derby taking place at AAMI Park. It is no certainty whether Wilkinson will play, but has so far trained unscathed.
Wilkinson was linked to Melbourne Victory, however he cheekily implied City showed more interest in his signature.
“I had a session on Sunday and pulled up fine through that,” he said.
“It was well documented they (Melbourne Victory) were interested, for me it was mostly about City from day one, they showed interest and made me feel really wanted.
“A lot of the boys had glowing reports about the club and facilities, for me it was areasonably easy choice.
“I wasn’t holding out, it was a matter of seeing if anything came up that was suitable. If something did come up, either wait or come back to the A-League for me.
“In the end it was an easy decision to come back to the A-League. There was interest from a few other Asian countries but nothing that made me want to sign and head over there for extended period of time.”
Wilkinson did not believe nor deny the importance of playing abroad to strengthen the chances of playing for Australia. It is well known Wilkinson has vast experience playing international football and stressed the significance of regular game time.
The centre-back has not seen many minutes in the national team of late, with Trent Sainsbury and Matthew Spiranovic preferred. Wikinson is keen to break back into the squad.
“I don’t know if it helps more being here or overseas, Ange has always been very vocal on playing and training regularly being the most important thing,” he said.
“It was important for me I got my future sorted pretty quickly, so I could get back to competing at a high level.
“If I can get on the pitch and stay fit, start playing, hopefully I’ll be considered for the March games, they’re both very important games.
“The second one against Jordan will most likely decide who finishes on top of the group. It’s a huge week involved, it’s great that both games are in Australia, it’s a huge advantage for us.”
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