Mikael Silvestre ... could the Frenchman join the A-League in the January transfer window? Source: AFP
Four A-League clubs have been offered the services of former Manchester United and Arsenal defender Mikael Silvestre.
The 35-year-old Frenchman has not played since leaving German club Werder Bremen in May this year.
But since October he has maintained his fitness by training with United, where he won five Barclays Premier League titles and a UEFA Champions League crown in a nine-season spell.
Capped 40 times for France, Silvestre has reportedly been offered a deal by Indian outfit Dodsal FC. However, it is believed he would prefer a move to either Australia or the US.
| P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Central Coast | 13 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 27 |
| 2 | Adelaide | 13 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 25 |
| 3 | Victory | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | -1 | 23 |
| 4 | Western Sydney | 13 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 20 |
| 5 | Perth | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 18 |
| 6 | Wellington | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 16 |
| 7 | Newcastle | 13 | 5 | 1 | 7 | -8 | 16 |
| 8 | Brisbane | 13 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| 9 | Sydney | 13 | 4 | 1 | 8 | -11 | 13 |
| 10 | Heart | 13 | 3 | 3 | 7 | -4 | 12 |
Brisbane Roar, Melbourne Victory, Melbourne Heart and Sydney FC have been approached by representatives of the veteran, who can play as either a centre-back or a left fullback.
It is believed neither Melbourne club is interested, while Roar general manager Sean Dobson is yet to respond, claiming not to have received any correspondence about Silvestre.
Brisbane have a visa spot available in their squad after cutting short the loan spell of rarely used Japanese defender Yuji Takahashi.
Coach Mike Mulvey was unaware Silvestre was being shopped around, but Brisbane are in the market for a central defender, having failed to find an adequate replacement for Bahraini international Mohamed Adnan.
"I haven't heard about Silvestre, but there are three defenders that we're looking at," Mulvey said.
Known target Dino Djulbic, the former Gold Coast United defender who made his Socceroos debut this month, has turned down the chance to join Brisbane.
Djulbic was a key member of Gold Coast United's backline while Mulvey was the now-defunct club's assistant coach.
By the time Mulvey replaced Miron Bleiberg as the Coast's head coach, Djulbic had moved to Chinese Super League club Guizhou Renhe.
Djulbic, 29, could remain in China, but may end up in South Korea, Japan or the Middle East.
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