Sydney FC has extended the contract of striker Joel Chianese for a further season, keeping the speedster at the Sky Blues until the end of the 2013/14 Hyundai A-League season.
Sydney FC has extended the contract of striker Joel Chianese for a further season, keeping the speedster at the Sky Blues until the end of the 2013/14 Hyundai A-League season.
Chianese, who is a product of the Sydney FC youth team, has scored six goals in 16 appearances for the Sky Blues since making his debut towards the end of the 2011/12 season.
After an injury-disrupted 2012/13 campaign, the 23-year-old said he wanted to repay the faith shown by Sydney FC after breaking back into the team in recent weeks.
“The Club (Sydney FC) has shown a lot of faith in me to offer me an extra season and I want to make sure I repay that faith,” Chianese said. “I haven-t had the best season with a few injury disruptions but Sydney FC has shown faith and I-m thankful for that.”
Chianese also stressed stability and the current good feeling around Sydney FC, were important reasons in his decision to stay with the Sky Blues.
“I-m happy here at Sydney FC and feel settled and when they showed some interest and faith in me it was a pretty easy decision for me to stay,” Chianese said. “There is a really good feeling at the club at the moment and I-m looking forward to being a part of that for the rest of the year and next season.
“Now this is settled (contract extension) I want to work hard for the rest of this season, get in a good pre season, and then hopefully push hard next year to get back to the form I was in last season before I had a couple of injuries.”
Sydney FC Coach Frank Farina was happy Chianese committed himself to be part of the Sky Blues revolution he is leading after seeing something special in the striker over the last three months.
“Joel-s a talented young player who has shown he can score goals in the A-League,” Farina said. “He-s worked hard to get back into the squad after a few injuries and I think he can offer us something. He-s quick and makes very intelligent forward runs so it-s good to have him on board for next season.”
Watch Socceroos captain Lucas Neill’s home debut for Sydney FC at Allianz Stadium against the current league leaders Central Coast Mariners on Saturday 9th March (kick off 5.30pm) when Sydney will look to make it six wins in a row at home. Tickets are available by clicking here from Ticketek.
