July 26 2017 - 5:26PM
Western Sydney Wanderers spending more than Sydney FC on A-League squad
Dominic Bossi
After years of brandishing themselves as the glitz, glamour and "bling" club of Sydney, Sydney FC are set to lose their claim to having the most valuable squad in the city after being eclipsed in player expenditure by their fiercest rivals.
For the first time in the history of the two clubs, Western Sydney are set to spend more on their football team than Sydney FC after two marquee signings will see the Wanderers dwarf the wages of the Sky Blues' first team.
Spaniard Oriel Riera has joined the Western Wanderers as part of a high-priced duo with Alvaro Cejudo. Photo: Michele Mossop
After a frustrating campaign last season that saw the Wanderers narrowly scrape into the finals and struggle to win games at home, the club responded by splashing cash on major international signings.
Western Sydney Wanderers signed Spaniards Alvaro Cejudo and Oriol Riera as marquees and are understood to be paying the pair more than $3 million combined. The duo are easily the two highest-paid players in the club's history, commanding sizeable salaries as first-team players in La Liga last season, in what was regarded as the highest-ranked league in Europe by UEFA.
The signings represent a bold move from a club that had previously only signed three genuine marquee players in their previous five seasons – Shinji Ono, Federico Piovaccari and Nico Martinez. By contrast, Sydney FC have always had a marquee since the arrival of the Wanderers, boasting Alessandro Del Piero, Marc Janko, Filip Holosko, Bobo and Alex Brosque outside of the salary cap.
The arrival of Riera and Cejudo means the Wanderers are now spending about 30 per cent more than Sydney FC on marquee players. The Sky Blues are understood to be paying approximately $2.3 million a season for Brazilian striker Bobo and Serbian playmaker Milos Ninkovic who, while less expensive, are both proven hits in Australian football.
Western Sydney are now on course to enter this season as the biggest spenders in the A-League. Thus far, no club in the A-League is spending more money on marquee players than the Wanderers and with a number of clubs having already used their allocation of marquee players, it could take a high-profile guest player signing to eclipse their expenditure.
Sydney FC have two visa-player positions available and could sign a season-long guest player that must meet stringent marketing criteria set by the FFA. Melbourne Victory have a marquee position and visa-player spots open while Melbourne City are likely to use their final marquee position on Socceroo James Troisi.
