Western Sydney Wanderers captain Nikolai Topor-Stanley set to leave A-League and head overseas

WESTERN Sydney Wanderers have less than a week to find a replacement for Nikolai Topor-Stanley, after the club captain flew to the United Arab Emirates to finalise a move there.

WESTERN Sydney Wanderers have less than a week to find a replacement for Nikolai Topor-Stanley, after the club captain flew to the United Arab Emirates to finalise a move there.

With the A-League transfer window closing in five days (October 19), coach Tony Popovic has been left with little time to bolster his squad after agreeing to allow Topor-Stanley to take up the offer from Arabian Gulf League side Hatta.

Though Topor-Stanley declined to comment when contacted by The Daily Telegraph, it’s thought he has agreed terms with the newly promoted side for the rest of this season and an option for next.

Topor-Stanley leaves a big hole in the Wanderers defence. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images.

The 31-year-old was one of only two foundation players still at the club, along with Shannon Cole, but was withdrawn from the squad travelling to Adelaide to face the champions tonight.

Though Topor-Stanley’s eventual exit was not a huge surprise, the timing leaves the club with little opportunity to use the substantial part of the salary cap freed up by Topor-Stanley’s exit.

The Wanderers advertised his availability to other A-League clubs in the off-season but no offers transpired, with Popovic left with five centrebacks as a result this season.

But now Topor-Stanley, one of the club’s highest earners, seems likely to have played his last game for Western Sydney.

The defender was banned from last weekend’s derby after being sent-off in the FFA Cup against Melbourne City last month.

His absence leaves Popovic short in defence, with Aritz Borda himself banned after earning a red card in the derby loss to Sydney FC on Saturday.

LISTEN UP:Tom Smithies and Dave Hall pick over the bones of the Sydney derby and Herald Sun football writers Matt Windley and David Davutovic join the pod to discuss the Socceroos’ World Cup qualifiers and Melbourne’s own looming derby day.

Popovic announced the decision to let Topor-Stanley leave on Thursday, though he was typically insistent that no player’s exit would destabilise the squad.

“The situation with Nikolai has changed this morning where he’s got an opportunity possibly overseas that we’re allowing him to have a look at and possibly pursue,” Popovic said.

“He won’t be available for Adelaide but we’ve got Jonathan (Aspropotamitis) and Brendan Hamill that are ready to step in.

“We’ve built a squad that we feel that anyone can play and there was no guarantee Nikolai was playing (against Adelaide),” he added.

The move is potentially a reprieve for Hamill, who had been asked to fill in at leftback after the exit of Scott Jamieson but who had struggled badly against Sydney FC.

Brendan Hamill looks set to take over at centreback. Photo by Matt King/Getty Images.

Jack Clisby was promoted to the Wanderers squad that flew to Adelaide and is likely to take the left-back spot — freeing up Hamill to replace Topor-Stanley, with Spanish defender Borda suspended.

Popovic professed himself unconcerned with the leaking of four goals against both Melbourne City in the FFA Cup and Sydney FC.

“That’ll take time to gel,” he said. “Three of the back four were different from last year. We had a new back four at the start of last season which took time to gel (too).”

Meanwhile, 21-year-old winger

Jaushua Sotirio has signed a two-year contract extension until 2019.

Originally published as Western Sydney Wanderers captain Nikolai Topor-Stanley set to leave A-League and head overseas