TRENT Sainsbury’s massive deadline day loan move to Italian giants Inter Milan iced a productive January transfer window for Australians.
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Sainsbury’s now a chance to join Mathew Leckie as the only Socceroos playing regularly in the world’s ‘big five’ leagues, after Inter coach Stefan Pioli identified him as the defensive replacement for Andrea Ranocchia (loaned to Hull City).
Bournemouth duo, left-back Brad Smith and goalkeeper Adam Federici, are the only other Aussies playing in England, Spain, Italy, Germany or France’s top tier, after Mat Ryan (Valencia) and Aiden O’Neill (Burnley) were loaned to Belgians Genk and League One side Oldham respectively and Robbie Kruse left Bayer Leverkusen for Liaoning Whowin.
Sainsbury’s move bucks the Europe-to-Asia trend and smashes the perception that China is a dead end for Aussie stars.
Trent Sainsbury is in line to make his Inter debut next week.Source:Getty Images
It caps off an important January window for the Socceroos ahead of a crunch 2017, where World Cup qualification will be decided along with a tough Confederations Cup campaign.
Sainsbury, who left Dutch side PEC Zwolle a year ago to sign a mega deal with Jiangsu Suning, always harboured ambitions of returning to Europe.
Inter share the same owners as Sainsbury’s Chinese club, enabling the deal to be struck on the last day of the European January transfer window.
The stopper’s availability gave Pioli confidence to release Ranocchia, who’s been a regular squad member and played almost 150 games for Inter who are fourth and chasing a Champions League spot.
Sainsbury’s chance may come earlier than expected, with a possible opening in Monday morning’s (EDT) clash with leaders Juventus after Brazilian Joao Miranda was sent off in Wednesday’s (EDT) Copa Italia loss to Lazio.
Colombian Jeison Murillo and Chilean Gary Medel, who Sainsbury will face in June’s Confederations Cup, are the other stoppers.
Sainsbury played 36 games for Jiangsu, who finished second in the Chinese league and made the Chinese Cup final.
Aiden O’Neill is heading out to Oldham on loan.Source:Getty Images
Two years on from his breakthrough tournament, the triumphant Asian Cup, and with 21 caps to his name, the Inter move will give Sainsbury the confidence to step up and lead the Socceroos defence ahead of a crucial batch of games.
Ditto Ryan, who while taking a step back to Belgium, will benefit from the sharpness and confidence that comes from playing games, with Genk mid-table and still playing in the Europa League.
Manchester City rejected an $ 11 million offer for Aaron Mooy from a Championship rival of Huddersfield Town, where he’s currently on loan.
Striker Tomi Juric opted to stay with Luzern instead of accepting a more lucrative offer from third-place Championship side Reading who offered the Swiss side a $ 3m transfer fee.
