New Wellington Phoenix coach Ufuk Talay is confident star striker Roy Krishna will stay at the club if he decides to continue playing in the A-League.
Talay was unveiled in the capital this afternoon and is in no rush to recruit players for his first squad despite nine players having already left the club since the end of the season.
A fourth coach in four years for the Wellington Phoenix, but the first task hasn't changed for the new coach.
"Football is about recruitment," Talay said.
But the trouble for Tulay is he's not the only one recruiting Golden Boot winner Roy Krishna's off contract, and the Phoenix are in a three way battle for his signature.
"He's an influential player, he had a spectacular season last year and won all the awards and is a very important player," he said.
"I'm confident that if he stays in the A-League he'll be staying with Wellington."
Captain Andrew Durante and Tom Doyle are also off contract, while nine other players left in an end of season exodus.
But Talay won't be rushed in his search for replacements.
"Players need to fit into what I believe the game looks like, it's not just signing players for the sake of them being just good," Talay said.
But he'll need them to be if he's to fulfil his own ambitions for the club.
After seeing a glimpse of their potential under Mark Rudan last season, Talay's got strong goals for his new side.
"Obviously take the club to new heights, they had a successful season last year and I want to go even further."
It's something the Phoenix faithful have heard before; Talay now has to assemble a squad to deliver on his word.
Newshub.
