In-demand Mooy set to announce future next month

Aaron Mooy has begun narrowing down the list of offers for him from European clubs for next season, and plans to make an announcement on his future next month.

Aaron Mooy

Source: AAP

Mooy has been using his free time ahead of Australia’s next international to begin the culling process.

The World Game understands Mooy wants to get the Socceroos' next three internationals out of the way before he makes a final call on where he is going to play.
But in the meantime, he has been taking the time between the end of the A-League season and when he has to enter camp with Australia to sift through the bids.

The Socceroos will play England at the Stadium of Light, in Sunderland, on 27 May, before returning for games against Greece at ANZ Stadium on 4 June and Etihad Stadium on 7 June.

Mooy is already in the United Kingdom and arrived there late last week with his partner, Nicola, and their daughter, Skylar, to spend time with Scottish-born Nicola’s family ahead of going into camp.

Before leaving, he had begun going through offers with the aim of narrowing the possibilities down as he gets closer to making the biggest decision of his football career.

Mooy remains contracted to Melbourne City for the next two seasons, but it has been clear for a long time that he wants to try his luck in Europe next season.

It is believed City won’t stand in his way, as long as the club that signs him is prepared to meet their desired figure for a transfer fee.

The World Game understands there are multiple clubs prepared to meet the figure, which leaves Mooy to discuss personal terms with the clubs he is most interested in before then making a decision.

Leading Belgian outfit Club Brugge, which is where Mooy’s Socceroos teammate, Mat Ryan, first landed in Europe after leaving Central Coast Mariners, remains one of the favourites for his signature and there has also been speculation about Glasgow Rangers.

But there is plenty of interest in him from elsewhere in Europe as well and the trick for Mooy will be to go to a club where he is confident of getting regular first-team football.

The ambition of playing for Australia at the next FIFA World Cup is dear to him and he would never want to risk his place in the side by having to sit on the bench in club football.

Mooy turns 26 in September and the general view in football is that he can’t wait any longer to make the move to Europe.

The playmaking midfielder has served City well for two years and is coming off a dominant season in which he narrowly missed out on the Johnny Warren Medal, as best player in the competition, to Perth Glory midfielder Diego Castro.

The feeling is that Mooy, who has also become arguably the most important player in the Socceroos line-up over the last 12 months, has outgrown the A-League.

Mooy could easily pick up a rich deal in China, but he is determined to find out just how good he is by pitting himself against European opposition.

The first time Mooy went overseas, he joined Bolton Wanderers as a youth player and then switched to Scottish Premier League side St Mirren, where he played 21 first-team games across two seasons.

He returned to Australia as one of the first singings by Western Sydney Wanderers and after two seasons there, he was signed by City.

Mooy had been used mainly as a defensive midfielder by the Wanderers, but at City he took up a key play-making role and his career has flourished.

After the Socceroos played their most recent match, a 5-1 win over Jordan in a World Cup qualifier at Allianz Stadium on 29 March, Mooy again spoke about his aspirations to play in Europe.

“Yeah, I've been saying it for probably two years now,” Mooy said.

“I keep saying the same thing, every player should want to push themselves as high as they can and I'm no different. I have ambitions to go and that's what drives me."


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4 min read
Published 17 May 2016 9:54am
Updated 17 May 2016 10:19am
By Greg Prichard

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