Australia national team and Hangzhou Greentown striker Tim Cahill. (Photo : Getty Images)
Recent rumors are out that Australia international Tim Cahill is finally considering to play in the A-League, his home country' first division association football competitions, but only if Football Federation Australia (FFA) chief executive David Gallop would "give him a call".
ABC News indicated that the 36-year-old Hangzhou Greentown forward challenged the FFA boss "to make him an offer" to play in the A-League if the top tier Australian association really wants him next season.
The report noted that Cahill and the FFA had long been in a standoff with regards to the "governing body's attempts to bring the Socceroos' most commercially valuable name to the domestic competition".
The two parties said to have re-ignited their beef in February when Cahill was shockingly released by his former CSL club, Shanghai Greenland Shenhua. At that time, Gallop had remarked that he tried to lure the Socceroos' all-time leading scorer to the A-League but said that they will not be able to "meet his needs".
Prior to that, Cahill criticized the Australian top flight of "lack of vision" and said that he felt a move to his home country will "hurt his career". He then decided to join another China top flight club, Hangzhou Greentown, before the start of the season.
The 5-foot-10 Sydney native had never suited up for any Australian professional club in his entire senior career as he debuted with Football League One club Millwall FC in 1998. He then proceeded to play for Premier League side Everton from 2004 to 2012 before joining MLS' New York Red Bulls for three seasons.
In 2015, Cahill made his China debut for Shanghai Greenland Shenhua before he was released on February 16. Six days later Hangzhou announced that they had acquired Cahill's services.
Meanwhile, Xinhuanet reported that the Socceroo legend admitted he "never closed the door" on the possibility of playing in his country. It is just that, according to him, he never received any offer to do so.
"I've never closed the door on the A-League," Cahill said. "I think the good thing is I knew I was going to be a free (agent) going into the window in July, but it's obvious there never has been any contact with me."
"A lot of things are up in the air but I've just got to keep playing and that's the main thing for me. I'll look to see what happens for me, whether I stay in China or go somewhere else in the world. But overall, I think it's going to be left down to the big boss man of the league to decide what he wants to do."
