TO be topping the A-League leading goal scorers table as well as earning a Socceroos recall after a four-year absence, it may be odd to imagine that Blayney product Nathan Burns has gotten even bigger news.
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It was $2.5 million bigger.
Burns’ feats to start his 2014-15 campaign put him into the national spotlight as well as gaining him plenty of fans in New Zealand for his efforts with A-League Club Wellington Phoenix, but there have also been people further abroad taking note.
Chinese Super League Club Shanghai Shenhua have made Burns an offer of $2.5 million per season to join their ranks after his current contract with Wellington expires in June.
The 26-year-old who played with Bathurst ’75-Western during his teenage years, is reportedly keen to make the move. But plenty hinges on what Shanghai are prepared to pay Wellington for the star striker.
“Shanghai has tabled a very substantial offer to Nathan Burns and the indications are he is happy to accept it,” player agent Ante Alilovic told theworldgame.com.
“But the situation is that Shanghai are not willing to match Wellington’s asking price, which for a player soon to be out of contract they believe to be somewhat unrealistic. The figure will need to be in a far lower price than that.”
Burns’ agent Bernie Mandic declined to discuss any offer for him. He said the talk of contracts was a distraction given Burns’ focus on the Socceroos’ Asian Cup campaign.
“It’s been very frustrating watching the way third parties have continually been destabilising Australian players while they are in camp,” he said. “We don’t believe that it is in anyone’s best interests to be conducting negotiations via the media and will not be commenting on mere speculation.”
If Burns does make the move, it will not only give him financial security, but mark the fourth time he will have played for a club outside of Australia.
His first foray outside Australia was with Greek Super League club AEK Athens, making 25 appearances and scoring two goals for them.
During his stint with AEK Athens from 2008-12, he was also loaned out to Kerkyra.
A Beta Ethniki (Greek second division) club, Kerkyra had Burns for 31 games in 2009. He scored eight goals for them.
The other international club Burns has represented is the Korean-based Incheon United, signing with them on January 26, 2012. He only made three appearances.
But since returning to the A-League, Burns has scored 10 goals in 12 games for Phoenix, an effort which saw the football player valuation Transfermarkt website give him a $1.2 million price tag.
