Phoenix target arrives in Wellington
A Mexican midfielder who once signed a five-year contract with Premier League giants Chelsea is set to become Wellington Phoenix coach Ufuk Talay’s first import signing.
Ulises Davila, who never actually played a competitive game for Chelsea despite signing a longterm deal, has arrived in the capital ahead of his imminent unveiling.
The 28-year-old posted a video on Instagram walking around the Wellington waterfront yesterday afternoon, the camera panning past the Interislander ferry and clearly showing Oriental Bay in the background, the day after he was linked by Mexican media with a move to the Phoenix.
Although Davila quickly deleted the video, Talay told Stuff on Monday that two import players were due to arrive in the city this week.
‘‘There should be a couple of visa players flying in this week so we’ll see those guys when they come in,’’ he said.
‘‘The visa players are going to be influential in changing the game and winning the game so generally those spots, if you look across the A-League, the foreign spots are in the top end of the team,’’
While he never managed to fulfil his potential at Chelsea and was loaned out on five separate occasions, Davila should be a superb addition to the Phoenix, who are on the look out for a new No 10 to replace Sarpreet Singh.
Davila arrives in Wellington via Indian Super League club Delhi Dynamos, where he played briefly at the beginning of the year. Prior to that he spent three seasons with LigaMX club Santos Laguna.
A star for his country at under-20 and under-23 levels, Davila was called into the Mexican national team ahead of the 2011 Copa America but never got on the field.