Clubless Carrusca may walk away from A-League

Argentine playmaker Marcelo Carrusca has warned he might have played his last football in Australia after failing to seal a deal with an A-League club.

Marcelo Carrusca

Marcelo Carrusca has joined Melbourne City Source: Getty Images

Carrusca is a free agent after completing his five-year stint with Adelaide United at the end of the 2016-2017 A-League season.

The 33-year-old is considered one of the A-League's finest imports and he played a key role in the Reds' championship triumph in 2016.

But Carrusca is now on the scrapheap after negotiations on a new contract with Adelaide and an A-League club fell through.
Carrusca, who recently became an Australian citizen, is currently talking to two other A-League clubs but he admitted his future was up in the air.

"Two A-League clubs are interested and I'm waiting for the offer that best suits me and my family but if nothing comes about unfortunately I will have to resume my career abroad," Carrusca declared.

"Anywhere would do actually, even Argentina.

"I have to do what's best for my family.

"I would have thought that becoming an Australian citizen and therefore an Australian player not a marquee would facilitate a move to an A-League club but so far it was not to be."
The two-time Adelaide United player of the year at times was considered one of the best players in the A-League, polling high in the Johnny Warren Medal, but he cannot convert that personal reputation into a new contract.

"I also expected to join another A-League club two weeks ago but it never happened due to several reasons, some of which were beyond my control," he said.

"I like Australia and l would love to keep living here and playing in the A-League. After all, the main reason I became an Australian citizen is to give my two children a good life and an even better future.

"Yet even if I do play abroad for two or three more years I will always come back here because this is my family's new home now.

"I want to live in Australia for the rest of my life, that's for sure."

Carrusca, who started his career in Argentina with Estudiantes de la Plata, said he was surprised but not overly disappointed that with the season fast approaching he still has no club.

"I've been in the game a few years now and I've learned that in football anything can happen and you have to accept it," he said.

"It's part of the game but I admit that I am surprised that so far it has not worked out for me."

Carrusca refuted a suggestion that he in under a fitness cloud after undergoing surgery on his foot last year and that this may have been a concern for prospective clubs.

"I missed the first four matches last year due to surgery but I was okay for the rest of the season," he protested.

"I think I missed only one game after that.

"I am okay and I train every single day with my personal trainer to get fit and be ready to join a team.

"That is my aim: to find the right club."

Carrusca came to Australia in 2012 and played 114 matches for Adelaide, scoring 25 goals.


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3 min read
Published 8 August 2017 2:50pm
Updated 8 August 2017 3:25pm
By Philip Micallef


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