The 26-year-old Gael Sandoval is a veteran of seven seasons in the top tier of Mexican football. Photo / Getty Images
The 26-year-old Gael Sandoval is a veteran of seven seasons in the top tier of Mexican football. Photo / Getty Images
The Wellington Phoenix hope to import more playmaking magic from Mexico, after confirming they are set to sign winger Gael Sandoval on a loan deal.
After striking gold with Ulises Davila, who emerged as one of the best players in the league across two seasons, before taking up a lucrative offer with MacArthur, the Phoenix have gone back to the same source.
The 26-year-old is a veteran of seven seasons in the top tier of Mexican football, with close to 200 games at that level.
He helped Santos Laguna win the Liga MX in the 2017/2018 season, before being part of the Deportivo Guadalajara team that took out the Concacaf Champions League, though he didn't feature in the two legged final against Toronto.
Phoenix coach Ufuk Talay confirmed on Thursday that the Sandoval deal was imminent, with only paperwork outstanding on the loan that will extend to the end of the season.
Sandoval will arrive in Australia later this month to begin training with the squad, though he won't be available to play until the A-League transfer window opens on January 14.
Sandoval has played most of his career as a left winger (75 games), but is versatile, with 34 appearances in central midfield.
The Phoenix plan to use him as an attacking midfielder, similar to the free ranging creative role that Davila thrived in.
"Obviously we rate him highly, because we want to bring him in," said Talay. "He is going to help the team move forward and hopefully he can score goals and assist goals for us as well. I look at him as a '10' at this stage, which gives us a bit more firepower."
Gael Sandoval in action for Mazatlán. Photo / Getty Images
Talay said it was "just a coincidence" that the club had pursued another Mexican.
"It's the attributes the player has that suits the role," said Talay. "Central America [has] a lot of creative players that play in that role. It ended up being there again ... it wasn't that we were looking for another Mexican."
Sandoval has been on the club's radar for some time, but they had to wait until he finished an existing loan deal with Mazatlan FC, before coming to an arrangement with his parent club Guadalajara.
The Phoenix have set the standard in recent years with their import choices, in what is always a precarious and complicated business.
Davila was a diamond, but there have been many other astute picks including Steven Taylor, Filip Kurto, David Ball, Gary Hooper and Tomer Hemed.
The Phoenix Men face Newcastle on Friday night (9.45pm), part of a double header at McDonald Jones Stadium with the Phoenix Women in the earlier game (7.05pm).
The Jets have yet to win a game this season but have managed draws against Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers.
"They [like to] have a lot of possession, they want to run at players one [on] one as well," said Talay. "One thing is for us is not to fall into their trap and play their game. It's very important that we play our game and exploit the spaces that they leave. They want to play an attacking brand of football and throw a lot of numbers forward so there will be space for us to exploit in transition."
