Taylor waits on new deal

At the top of Steven Taylor’s Christmas wish list is a new Wellington Phoenix contract.

The skipper is one of 12 player’s out of contract at the end of the season but said the club is yet to table a new deal, despite his signalling his intent to finish his career in Wellington.

‘‘That’s something I want to do so it’s up to the club to offer a contract for me to stay here,’’ Taylor said ahead of today’s much-anticipated clash with A-League leaders Sydney FC at Westpac Stadium.

‘‘I’m enjoying my football, so we’ll see where that gets us. I’m still waiting, so we’ll see how it goes.’’

Rival A-League clubs have been permitted to negotiate with offcontract players since December 1 and Taylor, one of only seven players who returned from last season, said he wanted to have his future sorted as soon as possible.

Today’s opponents Sydney this week re-signed key pair Milos Ninkovic and Michael Zullo and extended the contract of coach Steve Corica.

‘‘Hopefully sooner rather than later, you want to be all tied up because last year a lot of the players were waiting until the playoffs and it was probably bad timing for us, people were unsure,’’ Taylor said.

‘‘I’m sure the club will come to an agreement soon.

‘‘This place has been fantastic for me, coming in last year I’ve loved my football here, I’m enjoying myself here every day and working with the manager now, it’s been good and hopefully I can stay here for many more years.

‘‘I would love to [see out my career here] but that’s up to the club,’’ he said.

Due to their upturn in form, heading into today’s clash riding a five-game unbeaten streak, coach Ufuk Talay revealed some of his players have started attracting interest from other clubs.

However, he was hopeful of retaining a ‘‘core group’’ of around 14-15 players, wanting to avoid another mass exodus, and hinted the first re-signing could be announced as early as next week.