Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy believes his foreign policy is reaping its rewards, as he gets set to complete a double continental swoop.
Hot on the heels of 24-year-old defender Piotr Malarczyk signing from Polish club Korona Kielce yesterday, Australian international winger Tommy Oar is poised to join the growing overseas contingent at Portman Road, having left Dutch side Utrecht in the summer.
Malarczyk played more than 100 games for and skippered his home-town club, while Oar almost joined Athletic Bilbao earlier this summer, as a result of his Basque heritage, only for the move to fall through.
McCarthy could include Malarczyk on the bench today for the top-of-the-table Championship clash with Brighton, provided he receives international clearance, while Oar, 23, was a target for today’s opponents, as well as Leeds United, Feyenoord and teams in the Middle East.
Having already signed Guinean, Larsen Toure and Dane, Jonas Knudsen this summer, McCarthy now boasts players from 11 different countries, including England, having built up a predominantly British and Irish squad since arriving in Suffolk.
“I never made a conscious decision not to look abroad and if someone recommends a player to me, I will have a look,”said McCarthy, who is without centre-back Christophe Berra (hamstring) for the next month, and is likely to bring in right-back Josh Emmanuel and move Luke Chambers into central defence today.
Both signings have come somewhat from left field and look set to represent the final pieces of business done by McCarthy before the transfer window shuts at 6pm on Tuesday.
Malarczyk has signed for a small fee, Town reportedly activated a £8,500 buy-out clause, while Oar, likened to Harry Kewell, was a free agent, following five years in Holland.
McCarthy, refused to divulge Malarczyk’s transfer fee, but said: “It doesn’t matter what they cost if they are good players.
“He can play right-back or centre-back, and is a good competitor that really wants to defend, just like all my defenders. He’s the captain of the team and a real good character.”
He added: “I get sent emails and text messages from allsorts of people and check them (recommendations) all out.
“Some have been fruitful, hundreds of thousands haven’t, but we signed Kevin Bru, that worked out really well, and his mate Larsen (Toure), and likewise this was through an agent I know.
“I looked it up on our scouting system, liked what I saw and sent Mark Kennedy to watch him live and he backed up what we had seen.”
On Oar, McCarthy revealed: “We have done plenty of due diligence on him, I was speaking to Jan Wouters (former Dutch international) about him, and he gave him a glowing report.
“We have got great competition at the moment and Ryan (Fraser) and Ainsley (Maitland-Niles) are holding down the positions.
“Everyone saw Larsen Toure at Doncaster, he is a very good player, while Tommy will add to that competition. He’s quick, direct and puts crosses in, but he does the dirty work as well.”
Two-page Brighton match preview in today’s EADT + plus Nostalgia Blues
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