Melbourne Heart Sarkies

by Marc Fox

A-League.

The Melbourne Heart syndicate, Australia's 11th franchise with the as yet unknown moniker, will become the third A-League side to take a chance on the precocious ball skills of Kristian Sarkies, the player fast developing into the enigma of his generation.

The league's newcomers, who will join the competition in 2010, yesterday confirmed their inaugural signings with Sarkies and Newcastle Jets captain Matt Thompson the first to officially pen deals with the Victorians.

The second Melbourne team's entrance into the A-League was ratified in June, but they had only named their coaching appointments until this week. Former Dutch international John van't Schip, who until recently was Marco van Basten's right-hand man at Ajax and Holland, is the club's first-ever head coach with ex-Denmark and Manchester United winger Jesper Olsen among his assistants.

But despite his European pedigree and clear indication about his preferred style of play, Van't Schip's first foray into the transfer market has been for a pair of Australians.

"Both players are technically excellent, great professionals and moving toward the peak of their careers. We need players who are very comfortable on the ball but also players who are prepared to work hard in transition and when not in possession," he said of the duo.

While occasional Socceroo Thompson's departure from the forlorn Jets has come as little surprise, it is Sarkies' return to Melbourne after three years at Adelaide United which has captured local imagination about the brand of football the new syndicate will champion.

Sarkies, now 23, was one of Australia's brightest teens when he burst to attention after being cultivated under current Melbourne Victory coach Ernie Merrick at the Victorian Institute of Sport.

The dead ball specialist with two great feet joined the VIS aged just 13, debuted in the national league at 16 and played for Australia's under-20s at 17 before travelling to the UK for a high profile trial with Everton at 18.

That trip didn't result in an offer, but Australia's 2006 World Cup coach Guus Hiddink also fell for the maverick Sarkies' charms, handing the then-19-year-old a Socceroos debut in the run-up to the tournament in Germany and asking him to hang out with the squad ahead of the opener against Japan.

After such a rapid rise through Australia's youth and junior ranks, it was fully expected that Sarkies would be playing in one of Europe top three leagues by now.

But despite his impressive international pedigree - he has played in the under-17s and under-20s World Cups and at the Olympics last year in China - Sarkies' domestic career in the A-League just hasn't got off the ground.

After starting 14 of the 21 rounds for Melbourne Victory in the inaugural A-League season, albeit rarely in his preferred position behind the front two, Sarkies hasn't managed to break double figures for league starts in the three completed seasons since.

Injury and illness have weighed heavily on his development, including a career-threatening scare with he was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis.

While perhaps the sorriest tale of his chequered A-League career is that he's more famous in sporting circles for kissing then-Australian Prime Minister John Howard on his balding head while receiving his 2007 grand final winners medal.

But this season he's shown glimpses of fulfilling his vast potential, clearly enough for Van't Schip to earmark him as a potential playmaker in the 'Heart' line-up.

"We're disappointed that we're losing him, especially now that we're getting some really good form out of him, and he's showing the sort of form that we knew he could deliver," current coach Aurelio Vidmar said.

"He's always been very talented and now he's starting to hit his straps."

Marc Fox

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