A-League: Home-grown midfielder Andrew Hoole set to return to Newcastle Jets James GardinerOriginally Posted by Premy
June 17, 2016, 7 p.m.
NEWCASTLE Jets were a basket case when Andrew Hoole decided to leave his home-town club for the bright lights of Sydney FC .
The Jets and Sydney FC had tabled similar two-year offers in January 2015, but the off-field stability of the Sky Blues, combined with an opportunity to play under Graham Arnold and compete in the Asian Champions League made Hoole’s decision easy.
Now the 22-year-old midfielder is poised to return.
Hoole’s manager Joel Grenell confirmed on Friday that talks with the Jets were advanced.
The winger has a season to run on his contract at Sydney FC, but the Newcastle Herald understands that the Sky Blues will not stand in the way of his departure.
The Mariners have also expressed an interest but Hoole’s preference is the Jets.
“Newcastle is not appealing in that it is his home town, it is appealing in a football sense,” Grenell said. “He needs an environment where he can flourish and Sydney was not the right environment for him. If he signs with Newcastle he is going to make sure he is out of his comfort zone and pushing himself. There was a club in Denmark that wanted him over there for a trial but he wants to establish himself in Australia. To do that he needs to be playing 25-plus games a season.”
The Jets are remaining tight-lipped until a deal is finalised, which could be as early as next week.
Coach Scott Miller, who returned from Europe on Thursday, tried to lure Hoole back to Newcastle in January as part of a trade for David Carney.
The Olyroo turned down the approach, due mainly to the Sydney’s upcoming ACL campaign.
However six months on, the Jets are a far more appealing option.
The mid-season arrival of Morten Nordstrand and Steve Ugarkovic helped the Jets climb to eighth spot, one place and four points behind Sydney. As well as on-field improvement, the Jets re-established their connection with the community and business sector.
On Tuesday,Chinese billionaire Martin Lee completed the purchase of the Jets from Football Federation Australia, who had controlled the club for a year after Nathan Tinkler had his licence stripped.
Hoole, a Broadmeadow Magic product, can play on either wing or in a central role would add to a front line headed by Nordstrand, Labinot Haliti, Devante Clut and former Fulham attacker Wayne Brown, who touched down on Wednesday.
The Jets have two visa players to sign, which are likely to be in the front third.
Hoole made 15 A-League appearances for Sydney, but only six in the starting side. He appeared in five of of the Sky Blues’ eight games in the ACL, the last of which was on May 25.
