Sydney FC CEO Danny Townsend says the Sky Blues have a number of other very good marquee players on their radar after just missing out on former Spanish international Fernando Torres.
Townsend admitted in an interview with Fox Sports that the Sky Blues weren’t far away from snaring the signature of ex-Liverpool, Chelsea and Atletico Madrid striker.
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In the end, Torres signed with J-League outfit Sagan Tosu, announcing the deal at a press conference on Tuesday.
“There were moments in the process when we thought we had the deal done,” Townsend told Fox Sports.
“The level of engagement was so strong and the feedback we were getting was that we were right in there with a shout, so that’s probably why it’s so disappointing.
“When you’re on the losing end you think back at what you could have done differently.
“The fact we were so close is a testament that we were all in — we weren’t messing around.”
New Sydney FC boss Steve Corica has the chance to go after a number of foreign players, with the likes of Jordy Buijs, Adrian Mierzejewski and Bobo all leaving the club since the end of last season.
And Townsend says recruiting the right player won’t simply come down to money, with the Sydney lifestyle a huge selling factor for the Sky Blues.
“We have a lifestyle that not many other countries or cities can compare with,” Townsend said.
“We didn’t put all our eggs in one basket (with Torres); we’ve been running a concurrent process with many other very good players.
“We’re still working through that and there’s still a reasonable amount of time to go before we need to have our squad settled.”
