Football: Rojas links with Swiss outfit

Marco Rojas. Photo / getty Images

Marco Rojas will be linking with Swiss first division club FC Thun - his third club in less than a year.

The All Whites winger has been in negotiations with the Swiss club, who are currently fifth in the Swiss Super League. The move is expected to be confirmed later today, though VFB Stuttgart have not given up on the former A League player of the year and will retain rights to the 23-year-old.

The loan spell with Thun will be until the end of this season.

Rojas has had an unhappy spell at SpVgg Greuther Furth - on loan from Stuttgart - making only three first team appearances - although he has struggled with injuries.

"I always knew it was still going to be tough," he told the Herald on Sunday last of month of life in the German second division with Furth. "It's a pretty tough and physical league [and] it hasn't worked out entirely as I had hoped it."

Rojas needs a fresh start and Thun could be a good place to do it. The club, based 30km south of Berne, was founded more than 100 years ago. Thun has moved between divisions across its history but been established in the top flight since 2002, apart from a one year stint in the second tier Challenge League in the 2008-09 season.

Thun qualified for the UEFA Champions League in the 2005-06 season and were a few minutes away from a famous draw against Arsenal in London, before a late Denis Bergkamp goal. The club has also qualified for the Europa League in two of the past three seasons.

There had been talk of Rojas returning to the A League but the former Phoenix and Melbourne Victory player still has European ambitions.

"Just because it has taken a little while to get going doesn't mean I am going to give up on my dream," said Rojas. "As a youngster I always wanted to play in Europe. I still want to make it in Europe and I believe I can."

Wynton Rufer is New Zealand's most famous footballing export to Switzerland, scoring almost 100 goals in a seven year stint in the 1980s. Brother Shane Rufer also played in the Central European country.