Rising star Luongo Massimo Luongo admitted the time to leave League One for a “new challenge” is beckoning as he seeks to open a new chapter on his career after being voted the 2015 AFC Asian Cup’s player of the tournament.
Luongo attracted a flurry of interest before the January transfer window closed, including offers from Qatar and Cardiff, as well as suitors from Spain and Germany.
He acknowledged that a move is on the cards, whether Swindon Town wins promotion or not.
"With how well it went at the Asian Cup, it’s probably the right time for me to move on - and maybe look for a new challenge," Luongo, whose stunning blast against Korea Republic set Australia on the way to its 2-1 final win at Stadium Australia, said.
"If we get promoted then that would be a new challenge but it’s probably leaning towards me moving elsewhere.
"If nothing comes of it, then I’d be happy to stay on at Swindon.
Luongo has just under two years left on his deal at the club, for which he scored a well-taken goal against Oldham Athletic this week.
"The summer could be a busy time," he said. "As a footballer you don’t mind that, it shows you are doing something right.
"There might be some silly offers which may not be up my alley but when they come in it means you are wanted and that's a good thing.
"I’d love to stay in England but I wouldn’t cross a move abroad off the list because there are different cultures out there and that's exciting, whether you are talking about the Bundesliga, La Liga or Serie A.
"I would relish the chance to play in one of those leagues. I know that there has been some talk of Spain and Germany and that’s interesting to me. Meanwhile, I will just keep doing what I am doing."
Luongo backed himself to continue to improve, regardless of whether he stays at Swindon or secures a transfer.
"I have no doubt I will keep playing well – I am not going to put myself under pressure. The worst case scenario is that I stay at Swindon – and that’s not a bad 'worst case scenario', especially if I continue to be involved with the national team."
In reference to a $7 million offer from Qatar -which he rejected - Luongo said: “It was life-changing money, a dream in many ways – but after that what would I do?
"I am only 22 and there is plenty of time for that sort of move further down the track, if I am still playing for the Socceroos and doing well for them."
Luongo played down the possibility of a return to the club where he emerged as a teenager, Premier League giant Tottenham Hotspur, which sold him to Swindon for $800,000 in 2013 and has a buy-back option for the same amount.
“They could buy me for what they sold me for – but obviously I am not in their plans, which is fine," he said.
Luongo’s former Spurs Academy teammates Ryan Mason, Harry Kane and Nabil Bentaleb are Tottenham regulars now and there is a strong argument if that Luongo had remained at White Hart Lane he would be too.
Not that the 22-year-old has any regrets about his move. “It doesn’t matter. I have gone a different path but it’s all worked out well.
"I am happy for those lads, we missed out a bit because the manager at the time, Andre Villas-Boas, thought he could buy better players instead.
"But it shows that they had quality there all along and the development path at Spurs was good enough for the Premier League."
Luongo is still in a state of mild euphoria over the Socceroos' Asian Cup win on home soil, explaining: "In the lead up to the Asian Cup we didn’t get the results we wanted from our warm-up games and everybody doubted us and that got in our heads a bit.
"But as soon as the tournament came around we produced and showed the quality that we really have.
"We are not always going to be the underdogs and are moving away from that title a little bit now.
"I am still thinking about what happened in the final. It’s given me a lot of confidence in every game I play and I am keeping that memory alive.
"It’s certainly not what I expected from the tournament. I didn’t expect to play as much as I did and to get away with what I did.
"It was the perfect stage to show what I can do – and it’s probably opened up a lot of things for me in my career moving forward.
"It can't hurt to score a goal in the final in front a lot of people, can it?
"If I come across a video of that goal on Twitter or YouTube, I’ll watch it and it will give me the same feeling I had when I scored it.
"It’s one of the few goals I have scored that I’ll admit was quite a nice one … I was happy with that one."
With Germany lined up for Australia on 25 March in Kaiserslautern, Luongo declared: "If you'd asked about 12 months ago about playing Germany we’d all be probably dreading it.
"But now, there’s real excitement and anticipation out there at the prospect of playing the world champions."
Luongo revealed how Postecoglou showed his belief in him as far back only his second Socceroos appearance against Belgium in Liege and then Saudi Arabia in London last year, explaining: “After those games, he told me he just wanted me to get on the ball more because he knows I can make stuff happen anywhere on the pitch - and I feel like I can do that.
AFL coach Mick Malthouse talks about Postecoglou's ability to get the best out of youngsters:
“As long as I do that, I think he’ll be fully behind me which is good to know because I don’t get nervous about losing the ball and the coach having a go at me."
Luongo admitted he didn’t expect to be a starting player last month, adding: “I started in a couple of games before the Asian Cup but I always thought it was the boss experimenting and tying to rotate things and get other players more comfortable in the team.
“I think he told the media he didn’t expect me to play as many games as I did ... and I was happy to prove him wrong by showing I was good enough to play every game.”
