Phoenix face Cacace conundrum
If Wellington Phoenix are serious about becoming a selling club, then they need to address the fact that their most promising player could walk for free at the end of the season.
From the current squad, 18-year-old Liberato Cacace looms as the most likely player to follow in Sarpreet Singh’s footsteps by signing with an overseas club in the future.
But given his two-year contract expires at the end of the upcoming campaign, the Phoenix will be unable to collect a transfer fee unless they can convince the left-back to sign a new deal first.
The problem for the Phoenix is that there will be little incentive for Cacace to do that if he plans on moving on after one further season in the A-League, which seems inevitable if he continues his current trajectory.
‘‘We’re conscious of that,’’ Phoenix general manager David Dome said. ‘‘That’s the modern world of transfers. It happens all around the world where sometimes clubs come to an agreement and sometimes players run their contracts down, but that’s not what we want to happen in this case.’’
According to Dome, there was some interest in Cacace following the Under-20 World Cup, where he was New Zealand’s best player. However, unlike Singh, who landed a dream move to Bayern Munich, none of that materialised into a concrete offer.
‘‘There was a few enquiries but nothing solid, nothing that you’d go this would make sense or that Libby wanted to pursue in any great depth. To be honest we had a little look at it but it wasn’t good for the club, and we didn’t believe it was good for the player either.
‘‘We hope that Libby goes on to bigger and better things but we want to manage that through with him. Having Libby around the club for a bit longer while still looking at those opportunities is important for us.’’
Although Singh jumped at the first chance to leave the A-League, and rightly so given the offer came from one of the world’s biggest clubs, Cacace has previously indicated he is happy to bide his time in Wellington.
‘‘I’m in no rush [to leave], I’m only 18 and I’m just seeing what comes to me,’’ he told Stuff in June. ‘‘If a club wants to approach me I’ll think about it but I’m still 18 and still have a lot of development in me. I’m happy being at the Phoenix for now.’’
The obvious solution for the Phoenix is to offer Cacace a payrise and include a buy-out clause in any new contract, ensuring they get a return on their investment. Otherwise a scenario may arise where they need to sell one of their best players in January, midway through the season, to avoid losing him for nothing.
‘‘We hope that Libby goes on to bigger and better things but we want to manage that through with him.’’
Phoenix general manager David Dome on Liberato Cacace