Adelaide United coach Gertjan Verbeek confirmed the club would be signing a Chinese player as the Reds fifth visa player
Adelaide United boss Gertjan Verbeek is hoping the A-League increases its visa quota from five to six players this season, revealing a Chinese player will be signed as an import.
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Adelaide United coach Gertjan Verbeek revealed he did not know if Norwegian striker Kristian Opseth’s transfer had been processed, claiming he would not be ready for FFA Cup action on Wednesday even if he were cleared.
Verbeek also confirmed Adelaide would sign a Chinese player as the club’s fifth visa player — the current maximum allowed — hoping talks of expanding foreign players to six comes to fruition before the new season starts.
Adelaide faces Olympic of Brisbane in an FFA Cup round-of-16 clash at Perry Park.
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“That’s not a question you have to ask because he’s (Opseth) not fit enough to join the squad; he came in late and for a long time he didn’t do anything,” Verbeek said before the Reds’ training session at Elizabeth yesterday afternoon.
“So I don’t have to think about him for the 16 (players in the squad) for Wednesday and hopefully he will be fit in two or three weeks, so we hopefully win to qualify for the next round, he will be available.
“I don’t know (if he is cleared); it’s not my job. You have to ask Bruce (Djite, football director) or someone else.”
The Norwegian’s former club Erzurumspor refused to clear the striker after the Reds last month announced the marksman as one of their key signings for the new season.
It’s understood the Turkish club has demanded a $1 million transfer fee, with sources claiming he was a required player after Erzurumspor was relegated to the second tier of Turkish football in May.
It’s understood Opseth, 29, left the Turkish club to train on his own in Norway because he wasn’t paid for two months.
With Opseth not leading the front line in Brisbane after he played for about 30 minutes in last week’s 1-0 friendly loss to Melbourne City, Verbeek said the club was still on the hunt for two more players to add depth to the current squad.
It’s understood the Dutchman wants a five-star holding midfielder after the Reds lost Isaias to Qatari club Al-Wakrah for the sum of his buyout clause in the off season.
“The other (visa) spot will be a Chinese so we have four (imports) now and the fifth one will be a Chinese,’’ Verbeek said.
“We have to wait for that (player) because the Chinese (League) competition is still going on, and, that has to do with the (Adelaide United) owners who already own a club in China (Qingdao Red Lions) and we hope the PFA (players’ union) will decide there will be an extra (sixth) visa player.”
With Verbeek confident Adelaide would beat Olympic in his second official clash in charge, the Dutchman also heaped praise upon his opponent before the clash.
Olympic is sitting fourth in Queensland’s NPL.
“I like the way they play,’’ he said, before revealing the Reds would train in Brisbane on Tuesday. “They want to play football, they build up, short combination play.”