Claims new A-League club Macarthur FC illegally approached Sydney FC star Milos Ninkovic
They haven’t even played their first game yet but A-League recruits Macarthur are facing a battle with Sydney FC over claims they made an illegal approach for a star player.
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It’s the war of words that threatens to sour relations between Sydney FC and their newest rival before a ball’s even been kicked.
Who can solve the curious case of Milos Ninkovic and the missing Macarthur offer?
Peculiar circumstances surround an alleged illegal approach by the A-League’s expansion franchise, who are due to enter the A-League next season and starting to put together a squad.
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Whatever the outcome, the he said/she said behind this explosive tug of war for the Serbian Johnny Warren Medallist has added spice that would make a chilli’s knees weak.
The story, as Confidential understands it, goes something like this.
Ninkovic was all set to re-sign with the Sky Blues on a one-year contract within the salary cap worth close to his current salary, believed to be around half a million per season.
This is where it gets mystifying.
Shortly before he was due to finalise his paperwork last month – nearly a fortnight before December 1, when rival clubs are allowed to start talks with off-contract targets – Ninkovic informed Sydney’s hierarchy he’d been informally approached by Macarthur.
The offer, this column hears, was for a two-year deal plus the option of a third, and on a salary in the vicinity of $750,000 per season – tempting for a player nearing 35 with a young family.
Ninkovic has always stated he wants to finish his career with Sydney but, with a dozen off-contract players and higher performances demanding higher wages, the reigning champions’ salary cap is unprecedentedly tight.
The Sky Blues immediately contacted Macarthur for a please explain and alerted Football Federation Australia to the assumed breach of ethical negotiation rules.
Macarthur responded categorically denying any such thing had occurred, and again rejected the claim as false when contacted by Confidential.
Then, on December 1, Sydney received notification that Ninkovic’s name is on Macarthur’s list of off-contract targets they’d like to speak to.
We can’t make rhyme nor reason of it.
Strange job timing
There’s no CEO, and almost no one left on the senior management committee, which makes it all the stranger that FFA has been interviewing for the role of head of national teams.
After various dramatic episodes involving national teams in the past 12 months, the person overseeing them will have a vitally important role to play.
So the timing of the recruitment seems odd, when the new CEO won’t start until the new year.
Pim farewell
Around 200 mourners will gather in Rotterdam on Friday to celebrate the life of Pim Verbeek and farewell the man who coached the Socceroos at the 2010 World Cup.
So popular was the 63-year-old that the guest list had to be limited to close friends and family who were able to attend, but his time in Australian football will be marked during the service.
A video will be played with various figures from here including Tim Cahill, Brett Holman and Simon Hill relating their memories of Verbeek.
Kamsoba on Macarthur hit-list
Macarthur have been busy indeed. Word is they’re also targeting Melbourne Victory attacker Elvis Kamsoba.
The Burundi international has started six of seven games this season, missing only the round-six Big Blue loss that fell during a FIFA window.
It will be interesting to monitor Victory’s response given the 23-year-old is clearly a central part of coach Marco Kurz’s plans.
Sam’s playlist
We already knew Sam Kerr had electric feet; we didn’t realise she also has eclectic taste in music.
The star Matildas striker has an official playlist with Apple Music that helps her “forget about outside noise”.
Everything from Drake to The Cranberries and Justin Bieber to Shakira get a start, and even Daryl Braithwaite’s Horses sneaks into her top 25 tunes.
There’s also hip-hop aplenty, which the Chelsea recruit uses to tap into her “badass alter ego before a game”.
Special connection
It’s a little-known fact that Melbourne Victory’s assistant coach has a pretty nifty family connection.
Kurz’s No.2 Filip Tapalovic is the brother of Toni Tapalovic, the man behind Manuel Neuer’s stunning success.
Toni first met the World Cup-winning Germany goalkeeper while working as a junior coach at Schalke, and when Neuer signed for Bayern Munich in 2012 he insisted he join him at the Bundesliga giants.
The club took Toni on despite being only 32 and with no big-time experience, and Neuer now credits him with being “the keeper I am today”.
Cup silver
The University of Wollongong team returned from China this week with a silver medal at the University World Cup.
The team, coached by former Socceroo Luke Wilkshire and containing a handful of players from the Wollongong Wolves along with NPL2 and local talent, lost the grand final 2-1 in extra-time to Uruguay’s University of the Republic.
But UOW striker Marcus Beattie won the golden boot with six goals from six games.