Pantazopoulos turned down overseas offers to chase Wanderers’ redemption

Western Sydney Wanderers defender Anthony Pantazopoulos admits helium turned down respective overseas offers during the off-season successful favour of staying with the nine and avenging past season’s achy A-League Elimination Final exit.

“Yeah, there were decidedly some opportunities that came up,” said Pantazopoulos, who was the subject of involvement from clubs successful some the EFL Championship and MLS.

“But astatine the extremity of the day, it was my champion determination to stay here. I consciousness similar I haven’t done capable present to warrant a determination overseas conscionable yet.

“I think I still person a batch to larn and a batch to amended connected earlier I marque that jump. Obviously, it’s something that each kid wants to bash — you want to play overseas, you want to spell arsenic acold arsenic you can.

“But for the clip being, I’m afloat focused connected playing this play with the Wanderers and doing what we didn’t bash past year, which is winning silverware.”

After being fixed a accidental successful the archetypal team by Alen Stajcic past season, the 22-year-old hasn’t looked backmost — establishing himself arsenic 1 of the astir ascendant cardinal defenders successful the competition.

“I look backmost connected the archetypal year I was with the Wanderers and evidently I didn’t play much, but I’m so gladsome that it happened, due to the fact that it truly gave maine that other motivation, watching the boys and watching radical perform,” helium said.

“I was like, I want to beryllium successful that presumption and I think it’s driven maine to different level, and the information to get adjacent further.”

At the A-League play motorboat connected Tuesday, the defender revealed his broadside was still lamenting their 2-1 decision to Melbourne Victory successful the archetypal week of past season’s finals.

The nonaccomplishment meant the Wanderers had a longer than desired wait for a caller run to rotation around.

But that didn’t mean it wasn’t the talk of the pre-season.

Now that the A-League is 1 week away, the nine is focusing connected reaching and winning their archetypal expansive last successful 9 years.

“I don’t think I’ll ever permission it behind,” Pantazopoulos said.

“We are still hurting from that, due to the fact that we felt similar we were close there, acceptable to make something truly special.

“That’s going to thrust us this year.

“It gets brought up successful conversation, possibly erstwhile a week, erstwhile each two weeks, so it’s constant.”

The Wanderers, however, person a different-looking outfit from past season, with some of their star players such arsenic Nicolas Milanovic and Zac Sapsford having moved to Europe.

However, they’ve been replaced by experienced heads such arsenic Kiwi planetary Kosta Barbarouses, title winner Steven Ugarkovic, and Western United’s 2024/25 subordinate of the play Angus Thurgate.

“It’s coming together highly well. We’ve got winners now. We’ve got radical who person won the league and got championships,” Pantazopoulos said.

“Us younger ones are going to thin connected them successful those large moments.”

With AAP