Central Coast Mariners captain Alex Wilkinson will get an early indication of what is required of the Mariners in the 2012 AFC Champions League over the next four months, after signing a short term loan deal with Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Sainty.
Central Coast Mariners captain Alex Wilkinson will get an early indication of what is required of the Mariners in the 2012 AFC Champions League over the next four months, after signing a short term loan deal with Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Sainty.
After some last-minute paperwork issues, Wilkinson will fly out for the Eastern Chinese city, situated on the outskirts of Shanghai late tonight, where he will link up with his new teammates ahead of the commencement of the Chinese Super League season on Saturday, 2 April.
“Everything has come through, it was a bit touch and go there for a while but off tonight and looking forward to the challenge.
“It-s going to be a good experience and a new challenge for me, and at the same time it keeps me ticking over in the off-season,” said Wilkinson.
The 26-year-old-s first taste of the Chinese Super League will be at his new club-s impressive 61-thousand seat capacity Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre against Asian Champions League heavyweights Beijing Guoan, and he says he-s excited about the experience he-s sure to have in the world-s most populous nation.
“I was there last week for two days but the Nanjing city is one of the biggest cities in China with six or seven million people, so it is a big city, and the team is new to the top league, they were in the second division a few years back and they have come up to finish mid table in the last two seasons, so it-s an aspiring club,” Wilkinson said.
With the Hyundai A-League 2011/12 season not expected to begin until October, Wilkinson says it-s vitally important for players to continue training and keep up their match fitness during such an extended off-season.
“That-s the main reason I-m going, to have six or seven months of an off-season is just too long. All of the boys here are just going to be training with nothing to train for so going over there gives me an opportunity to play games and I-ll come back in July with the chance to have a bit of a break and be fresh for pre-season with our boys,” Wilkinson said.
And the Mariners skipper will be returning to Australian shores sooner rather than later, with his impending wedding just weeks away.
“The Mrs has taken it very well to be fair, everything is pretty much organised now, Brooke has got to do a couple of things here and there but we-re just looking forward to the big day. I-ll be back two days before hand so hopefully everything will be organised and I can just roll in and turn up,” said Wilkinson.
