KEY POINTS:
Sydney FC prefer their marquee players such as Dwight Yorke and Juninho to pack a certain amount of bling in their carry-on luggage. Wellington hope Ahmad Elrich brings results.
Elrich was signed last week as the Phoenix's marquee player, becoming the last part in the 23-piece jigsaw puzzle that is their playing squad. His arrival also meant each club has filled their marquee quota, which allows them to sign one player outside the A$1.8 million salary cap.
Yorke and Juninho are perhaps the only two genuine marquee players to grace the A-League but just the very term brings expectations. Coach Ricki Herbert certainly expects his new signing to deliver.
"Fans will expect something exciting from him, something different, and he will bring quality to the side," Herbert said. "We believe he will be a very good fit and once we were made aware that he might be available, we moved pretty quickly to get him."
So quickly, in fact, they easily fought off interest from other A-League clubs, including Sydney and Central Coast, as well as Europe.
Two years ago, Fulham beat off interest from a host of Premiership clubs for a player touted from an early age as one of Australia's brightest prospects. He had set the old NSL alight with a series of match-winning performances for Parramatta and was fast-tracked into the Socceroos.
He made nine appearances for the Cottagers in his first season there but dropped off the radar after seriously injuring his knee playing for Australia against Kuwait.
The pacy 26-year-old right midfielder is hoping he might be more than a small blip on the screen with Wellington. He negotiated a release from Fulham, even though he still had a year left on his contract, and was seduced by what Herbert and owner Terry Serepisos had to sell him.
"It was a last-minute decision because I had to get the release before [the transfer window closed on] August 31," Elrich says. "Fulham had a new manager bringing in more and more players so I wanted to get back playing as soon as possible. The best option was to come home [to the A-League]. Sometimes you have to take a backward step to go forward."
Elrich hasn't stepped straight into the side and will have to be content with watching today's game against Perth from the sidelines.
Herbert isn't a manager who rushes players into his sides, marquee or not, and wants Elrich to improve his fitness in the same way as the slowly-introduced Brazilians.
When he does take the field, he has a clear goal in mind. In fact, you could say it's something that drives him.
"My first ambition is getting back into the national team and I believe Ricki can help get me there," he says. "It was devastating to miss out on the World Cup after being involved the whole way through [qualifying].
"It's proven to me that in football, you can't trust anyone. I know I deserved to be there and sacrificed a lot to be there. It's made me stronger and I've got a lot to prove to people."
The first people will be the Phoenix fans. Elrich doesn't need to live up to Yorke's deeds off the field but he will have done a lot right if he can match them on it.
* Ricki Herbert will tomorrow name his 18-man All Whites squad to take on Fiji in a two-legged World Cup qualifier. Only Simon Elliott and Kris Bouckenooghe are unavailable because of injury, although there is still a cloud over skipper Ryan Nelsen (hamstring). The All Whites will play Fiji in Auckland on October 13 before the return leg in Fiji four days later.
