Carl Veart believes Adelaide United has a good balance of youth and experience after the signings of Tomi Juric and Javi López ahead of the A-League 2020/21 season.
The pair both penned deals for the upcoming A-League 2020/21 season and will join the squad once they complete their mandatory 14-day isolation period upon arrival into Australia.
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Veart was ecstatic to have secured Juric’s services and confirmed he was the Club’s number one target during the offseason.
“I’m excited I think our fans and supporters will be excited to have a quality striker like that,” Veart told reporters at a press conference at Coopers Stadium on Thursday.
“When we looked at the squad and you look at past A-League seasons, teams that win it they’ve strikers that score 15 to 20 goals.
“And we believe Tomi can do that for us so that will give us a really good opportunity to push to win the Championship.
“… I had a good chat with Tomi and explained how we wanted to play and he fits exactly the way I want to play so we’re looking forward to having him back here.”
He explained the Socceroos striker’s addition will also be beneficial to the younger forwards in the squad as he can impart his knowledge.
Veart felt the 29-year-old’s capture is a statement of intent given his resume and that he is still very much in his prime.
“It shows as a Club where we want to head,” he said.
“We want to have good players here and we want to be competing and now with Tomi coming the players that we’ve got in our front line, we’ve got Tomi, we’ve got Benny (Halloran) and we’ve got James (Troisi), they’re all Socceroos.
“It gives us a lot of attacking options and it’s going to provide a threat to a lot of the other teams in the A-League.”
Meanwhile, López brings enormous pedigree with more than 250 La Liga appearances with RCD Espanyol between 2009 and 2020, and captained the club for the last five years.
Predominantly a right-back throughout his entire career, the versatile footballer can operate comfortably at centre-back or defensive midfield.
“You see his credentials and the experience that he has we’re looking forward to him coming in and helping a lot of young players in our group,” he said about the 34-year-old.
“It was important that we brought players with good experience and that have played at a high level that our young players can learn from.
“We’re really looking forward to having Javi here and looking forward to him showing that leadership quality.
“He was captain of Espanyol for a long time so it’s important that he brings those leadership qualities to our young group.”
Veart also paid tribute to football icon and Argentina legend Diego Maradona following his passing at the age of 60 this morning.
“It’s very saddening, in my time growing up most definitely the best player to ever play the game,” Veart said.
“Some of the things he did on the football field you just couldn’t see anyone else doing what he did at the time.
“And especially back in the 80s and 90s football was very different, especially for players like him that were so skilful, the challenges that he would’ve had to put up with, the pitches that he would’ve had to put up with playing on.
“And the things that he did with a football I don’t think we’ll ever see again.
Indeed, Veart faced the former Napoli phenomenon in 1993 at the Estadio Monumental when Australia faced La Albiceleste during a 1994 FIFA World Cup Qualifying match.
“Even though he was coming towards the end of his playing time, again I can remember playing him in Argentina and the atmosphere,” he added.
“And to actually be on the same pitch as him you had to pinch yourself.”
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