What is promised and what is delivered in football don't often match, but Sydney FC's signing of Jordy Buijs illustrates how Australia's enforcement of contractual obligations gives A-League clubs a competitive advantage in world football's transfer market.
The signing of the 28-year-old defender, unveiled by the Sky Blues on Tuesday, is something of a coup given his pedigree and experience of more than 230 games in the Netherlands, where players earn an average salary of about $380,000 - well above that of the A-League.
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Wanderers and Sky Blues share spoils
Sydney FC and the Western Sydney Wanderers have shared the spoils in a tense draw.
Speaking for the first time since signing with the club last week, Buijs revealed he opted against remaining in his homeland and chose to join Sydney FC after an ill-fated stint in Romania with Pandurii, where he went months without being paid before quitting the club.
While A-League clubs may not be able to match the wages on offer abroad, they can guarantee players will be paid their entitlements. The stringent salary cap requirements limit player payments, but the flipside is a guarantee enshrined in the collective bargaining agreement that clubs must fulfil player payments, including superannuation.
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"This stability, I didn't have this in Romania," said Buijs. "So I want a good club that is going to play for prizes," he said. "Sometimes you make wrong decisions. For my football [at Pandurii] it was OK but when you don't receive some couple of months [of payments] it's not easy for you and your family. So I quit and I'm very happy to take another step."
The central defender spent his time between clubs, having started his courses for a coaching licence in anticipation of life after playing and was studying when he received a call from Sydney FC. Despite his experience in Europe, it didn't take long for Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold to convince him to move to Australia for the remainder of the season.
"After some phone calls and talk about football - because this is the most important thing - we had a done deal after four or five days. It was very fast," he said. "He gave me a good feeling. I'm a man of my feeling, this is one of the important things in my life... [Arnold] gives me this so I need to give him something back on the field."