'80 clubs' interested in signing Brisbane Roar star Maclaren

More than 80 clubs around the world have expressed an interest in talking to star off-contract Brisbane Roar striker Jamie Maclaren, according to his agent, Paddy Dominguez.

Jamie Maclaren

Source: Getty Images

Maclaren became eligible to negotiate his future on December 1 and Dominguez described the response he has received on the player's behalf as "extraordinary".

He said he has been contacted by clubs that play in the "big five" leagues in Europe - England, Spain, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands - as well as many clubs from the middle and lower European leagues.

Dominguez insists there has also been interest from Major League Soccer in the US and from clubs in various Asian leagues.
"Since Jamie became a free agent I've had expressions of interest from everywhere," Dominguez told The World Game.

"The European market, the Asian market, the American market - it's just his stats, his goal-scoring stats, going right back to when he was playing for Australian youth teams.

"When people look at his stats, they show interest, and the interest in Jamie has been massive.

"We've had more than 80 expressions of interest and they're still coming in."

According to Dominguez, there was always a spike in interest whenever Maclaren scored goals - particularly a spectacular goal like the one from well outside the penalty box that he came up with in Brisbane's 1-0 win over Melbourne Victory last Saturday.
"I've had a few more expressions of interest this week based purely on the goal he scored against Victory," he said.

Maclaren certainly hasn't been distracted by ongoing speculation about his future - seven of his 15 goals this season have come in his last six games.

"There has been lots of interest from the top five leagues in Europe and that's where a lot of the focus is, but not all the focus," Dominguez said.

"Jamie needs to play regular football, so he has to go to a club where he's a realistic chance of challenging for a first-team spot."

Middle leagues like the Belgian Pro League, from where Socceroos goalkeeper Mat Ryan advanced to La Liga with Valencia, have provided great stepping stones into the big leagues for foreign players.

Maclaren hasn't had a new offer from Brisbane since he rejected the club's initial offer to re-sign in November.

The 23-year-old wants to do all he can to realise his potential as a player and fight his way back into the Socceroos squad after missing out for the recent 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying games against Iraq and UAE.
He has scored 46 goals in 86 A-League games for Perth Glory and Brisbane Roar, but his goal-per-game ratio has soared in the last two seasons, since he became a regular starter.

Maclaren has bagged 35 goals in 48 games for the Roar during that time, which compares very favourably with the Victory's Besart Berisha (36 in 49) and Melbourne City's Bruno Fornaroli (42 in 52) during the same period.

Dominguez said Maclaren wouldn't make a decision on his future until after his season commitments with Brisbane had ended.

"Jamie is completely focused on finishing the season strongly with Brisbane," he said.

"Start the finals series and try to win the A-League, that's his plan.

"Actual contract offers - we won't be considering until after the season ends.

"Jamie's well aware of the interest in him, but he doesn't want to look too far into it at this stage. None of the talk or the speculation affects him. You can see that from his recent run of goals.

"As soon as the season is over for him we'll sit down and weigh everything up and he can make a decision."


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4 min read
Published 31 March 2017 5:31pm
Updated 31 March 2017 5:43pm
By Greg Prichard

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