With two New Zealand-based A-League men’s clubs set to take to the field for the 2024-25 season, there’s been a lot of player movement in the off-season that Kiwi football fans have had to keep up with.
The A-League transfer window closed on Monday so all 13 teams have confirmed their squads ahead of the 2024-25 season - the 20th edition of the competition.
Both Wellington Phoenix's and Auckland FC's squads are all but finalised with some late moves in the transfer window yet to be publicly confirmed.
As Auckland FC are new to the A-League, they’ve been extremely busy bringing in players for their inaugural season with a large focus on bringing in local talent.
Eleven All Whites feature in the squad with the likes of Tommy Smith, Logan Rogerson and Nando Pijnaker bringing valuable experience to the Black Knights.
The most important thing for Auckland FC head coach Steve Corica will be to manage how the squad gels in its first season, and the strong NZ contingent will likely make that process easier.
Alex Paulsen's signing is a massive talking point ahead of the upcoming season as the 22-year-old signed for AFC Bournemouth in June, but was then loaned to Auckland FC in August. Bournemouth is owned by American businessman Bill Foley who also owns Auckland FC - making them 'sister clubs'.
The transfer was originally not allowed under the 'Caceres Clause' which doesn't allow for A-League players to be bought by overseas clubs, to then be sent back to another A-League team.
However, earlier this year the clause was put under review by the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) to look at allowing transfers between sister clubs.
Three import signings of Guillermo May, Luis Felipe Gallegos and Louis Verstraete were announced yesterday to bring the number of rostered Auckland FC players to 25.
The international trio only have a month to train with the squad ahead of the A-League season which kicks off on October 18.
Auckland FC have played two A-League clubs in their pre-season preparations, losing 4-2 against Western Sydney Wanderers and earning a 2-2 draw against the Central Coast Mariners.
The Phoenix come into this season off the back of their highest ever finish, climbing to second place on the A-League ladder, before being knocked out in the semifinal by Melbourne Victory.
They’ve had a number of their key players leave in the off season including star striker Oskar Zawada who has moved to play in the Dutch top flight.
Wellington Phoenix head coach Giancarlo Italiano has had to rebuild his squad with many talented youngsters taking opportunities to further their careers abroad including Ben Old completing a move to AS Saint-Étienne in France and Finn Surman signing with MLS club Portland Timbers.
The Phoenix have had to do some recruiting in the goalkeeping department following Paulsen's departure.
They managed to recruit former Tottenham Hotspur academy goalkeeper Josh Oluwayemi as one of their import signings.
The return of Marco Rojas to the capital has been a headline signing for the Nix as he’s commonly referred to as the ‘Kiwi Messi’ by the Phoenix faithful.
Rojas made 21 appearances across two seasons for the Phoenix and left the capital in 2011 to play for Melbourne Victory.
Since then he's played all over the world for clubs based in Germany, the Netherlands and Chile, and moved back to the A-League last season to play for Brisbane Roar. The 32-year-old made eight appearances for the Roar last season, scoring two goals.
Alongside Rojas, Portuguese midfielder Paulo Retre has previous experience in the A-League, winning two championships and two premierships with Sydney FC under current Auckland FC coach Corica. The 31-year-old made 169 appearances for Sydney FC and has experience playing under coach Italiano, who was assistant coach at the Sky Blues before he took charge of Wellington.
The two Kiwi clubs will also introduce a trio of Japanese players to the A-League, with the Phoenix bringing in Hideki Ishige and Kazuki Nagasawa and Auckland FC signing experienced fullback Hiroki Sakai.
The Phoenix made one final signing on deadline day, bringing in Corban Piper from Auckland based club Birkenhead United. The 22-year-old is a midfielder but after a successful trial, Italiano intends to utilise him in the defensive end.
Auckland FC and the Phoenix meet three times in the upcoming season with the first ‘Kiwi Clasico’ set to take place on November 2 at Sky Stadium in round three of the competition. They then will clash twice at Mount Smart Stadium on December 7 and February 22.
Elsewhere, two Sydney-based clubs have managed to attract some big names to the A-League.
Brazilian winger Douglas Costa, who previously played with Cristiano Ronaldo at Juventus in Italy, has moved to Sydney FC.
Former Manchester United star Juan Mata has signed for Western Sydney Wanderers and has already received a passionate welcome from their fans as he touched down in Sydney.
2024-25 A-League ins and outs:
Auckland FC:
Ins: Cameron Howieson, Michael Woud, Francis De Vries, Jesse Randall, Max Mata, Tommy Smith, Luis Toomey (scholarship contract), Liam Gillion (scholarship contract), Finn Mckenlay (scholarship contract), Adama Coulibaly (scholarship contract), Oliver Middleton (scholarship contract), Jonty Bidois (scholarship contract), Dan Hall, Scott Galloway, Callan Elliot, Joey Champness, Jake Brimmer, Hiroki Sakai, Logan Rogerson, Joseph Knowles, Alex Paulsen (on loan from Bournemouth), Nando Pijnaker, Guillermo May, Luis Felipe Gallegos, Louis Verstraete.
Wellington Phoenix:
Ins: Marco Rojas, Paulo Retre, Luke Brooke-Smith, Josh Oluwayemi, Kazuki Nagasawa, Dublin Boon (scholarship contract), Hideki Ishige, Matt Sheridan (upgraded from scholarship contract), Alby Kelly-Heald (upgraded from scholarship contract), Corban Piper (scholarship contract)
Outs: Alex Paulsen (AFC Bournemouth), Nicholas Pennington (Perth Glory), Oskar Zawada, Jack Duncan (Melbourne Victory), Ben Old (Saint-Etienne), Bozhidar Kraev (Western Sydney Wanderers), Finn Surman (Portland Timbers)
Re-signings: Kosta Barbarouses (2025)
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