Newcastle Jets coach Gary van Egmond says he plans to add some more seasoned players to the Jets’ squad ahead of coming season.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets coach Gary van Egmond says the Club is likely to make more additions to the Jets player roster in the near future.
The Jets have already bolstered their line-up with exciting young talents Mark Birighitti, Adam Taggart, James Brown, Scott Neville and Craig Goodwin ahead of the 2012/13 A-League season.
Van Egmond said he was looking to create a blend of youth and experience at the Jets
“It-s all relative to the salary cap and that-s the thing you have to keep in mind,” he said.
“We-ll probably make an announcement in a couple of days about one or two younger players who are also coming in to strengthen the squad and we-ll probably look to get some more seasoned players down the track a little bit.”
Van Egmond said the Club would begin looking overseas to fill their remaining foreign player spots once the European and South American seasons had concluded.
“Right at this moment it-s about securing a couple more players, then we-ll take another deep breath, have a look and see what-s also available especially with players coming off seasons in Europe and South America,” he said.
“The major ones are more in the front third. But as I said, they-re the ones who we-re going to look at on the back of the seasons ending in Europe.
“Also in the wide defensive areas we need people who are going to fight for positions in those areas and that-s probably the mainstay of where we-re looking at.”
Van Egmond did not rule out the possibility of the Jets securing a marquee player for next season, but stressed the importance of finding the right player.
“There-s definitely a chance of having a marquee player but again we want to make sure we get that right,” he said.
“We don-t want to get a marquee player for the sake of getting a marquee player.
“Unfortunately we haven-t had what I would suggest is a great deal of success with marquees and that-s not just us, but a number of A-League Clubs.”
Van Egmond also confirmed the Jets were close to confirming the re-signing of striker Michael Bridges.
“We-ll definitely retain Bridgy, it-s just a matter of sorting things out with him,” he said.
“But apart from him I-m pretty sure we-ve got everyone that we wanted to retain from the football team last year.”
