The Socceroos captain, Mat Ryan, has brought an end to his eventful spell in Denmark by signing an 18-month contract with the Dutch top-flight side AZ Alkmaar.
Ryan joins AZ, who sit fifth in the Eredivisie and are into the last 16 of the Europa Conference League, after a stint at FC Copenhagen that lasted just six games.
The 30-year-old had been involved in an often spiteful battle with Poland’s Kamil Grabara for billing as the club’s first-choice goalkeeper.
After Ryan’s mistake led to Argentina’s second goal in the Socceroos’ 2-1 World Cup round-of-16 loss last year, Grabara sarcastically tweeted it “must have been politics” keeping the Australian keeper out of the Copenhagen side.
Ryan has struggled for consistent game time since leaving the English Premier League side Brighton in 2021 for stints with Arsenal, Spain’s Real Sociedad and Copenhagen.
But after taking AZ’s No 1 shirt, the 79-cap Australia international hopes to make an immediate impact.
“It’s a really good club with a lot of ambition and it’s really exciting,” Ryan told AZ’s club website. “It’s a new chapter, (there’s) the excitement of not knowing what’s about to unfold.
“Being ambitious, you dream of achieving (at) the highest of the heights and here at AZ where circumstances lie in the league, in European football and the domestic cup there’s a lot to play for.
“I’m confident that I can come here and contribute to the team and (help achieve) the goals that we have.”
Meanwhile, Garang Kuol, Australia’s hottest young prospect, is reportedly close to confirming a move to the Scottish Premiership club Hearts on loan from Premier League challengers Newcastle United.
The 18-year-old prodigy sparked a social media buzz on Thursday when he was photographed touring the Heart of Midlothian training facilities in Edinburgh, where he could be temporarily reunited with three of his Socceroo World Cup teammates.
after newsletter promotion
The star striker – the youngest Australian player at a World Cup and youngest since Pelé back in 1958 to appear in a World Cup knockout match – officially joined high-flying Newcastle at the start of the year on his first major contract.
And earlier this week, the Hearts manager, Robbie Neilson – who already has the Australians Nathaniel Atkinson, Cammy Devlin and Kye Rowles on the club’s roster – confirmed Kuol had been at the club’s training base for talks about a loan deal.
But Neilson said no deal for the striker was yet confirmed, telling reporters: “He’s a player we’re interested in so he came up for a look around with his agent. He’s got a number of clubs very interested in him.
“He’s a huge prospect,” Neilson said. “He’s one we’ve known about for quite a long time because he comes from the same team [Central Coast Mariners] that Kye Rowles was at.”