Roar trio sign for Utrecht

The Brisbane Roar have lost three of their most promising youngsters with Tommy Oar, Micheal Zullo and Adam Sarota all signing for Dutch side FC Utrecht. Oar, 18, Zullo, 21 and Sarota, also 21, have all been trialling for Utrecht for the last few weeks, and finally signed this week.



Oar has signed for the Dutch club for five years, while the other two have both signed three year contracts. The loss of three promising youngsters will be a massive blow to the Brisbane club, and Roar chief executive Peter McLennan expressed his mixed views to the media:

"You can't help but be disappointed to lose three young players who have the undoubted potential of Tommy, Michael and Adam. However, for the Brisbane Roar this is tempered by the knowledge we have provided each of them with the platform to potentially become the next generation of Socceroos. Our aim as a club has always been to identify exciting young talent, provide them with an environment to develop and the opportunity to prove themselves in the Hyundai A-League. The unfortunate downside of this is when these players display the talent we've identified it becomes very difficult to hold onto them."

The signings will however provide the Roar with some funds (the deal is rumoured to be around 1.8 million dollars), and salary cap room, with which manager Ange Postecoglou can rebuild the squad. Whether he has the ability to rebuild a squad shattered by the loss of firstly Craig Moore, and now the young trio, is another question though.