The popular centreback arrived home in the Netherlands on Saturday and is at a loose end after failing to agree terms with Goa-based outfit Churchill Brothers SC.

Van den Brink is keen to tie up his immediate footballing future but admits securing a gig in the A-League could be problematic after he terminated his Glory contract three months early.

Speaking with au.fourfourtwo.com from his home, van den Brink he said he would be “happy” to head back to Australia and “have a go at this season again".

“Considering my football time there to me it would be a nice step,” he said. “At least people in the A-League know what I can and cannot do.

“I’ve had a great time in the A-League so obviously I’d like to keep that option open but I haven’t had a lot of time to put feelers out.

“I’m not sure what’s going to happen in the short-term or the long term now. I’m still eager to play football.”

The Dutch footballer won’t detail the sticking point in negotiations with the I-League outfit but said there was no possibility for agreement.

He trained with the team on Wednesday and Thursday last week before sitting down with the owners of the club, only to reach a deadlock.

“We had a meeting with them and then we found out we just disagreed on something – for them and me it was a little bit different to what we expected so we decided to go our different ways,” he said.

“It was probably as big a shock for them as it was for me but we had no other option but to finish it straight away.

“Obviously I was very disappointed because I thought it would be a new adventure but it didn’t work out that way and I’m actually really disappointed and I think they were as well.

“If I knew that was going to happen I wouldn’t have even thought about going there – it was a bit of a strange situation for me.

“Right now I’m back in Holland four or five months too early at least and not sure what I’m going to do just yet.”

The 30-year-old played for three-and-a-half years in Australia – first with now defunct Gold Coast United before joining Perth Glory for the start of the 2011/12 season.

Always a big character on and off the park, he said a combination of factors, including the uncertainty surrounding player contracts, led to his decision to leave the club which is floundering at the foot of the ladder.

Given the club’s string of poor results, van den Brink said he wasn’t surprised by coach Ian Ferguson’s sacking this week.

“Maybe the timing surprised me more than it happened,” he said. “I think the way things were going it was probably inevitable that it was going to happen.

“The players Perth’s got this season and being bottom of the table I don’t think (the results) really reflected the quality so then it was bound to happen.”

Last month rising star Jesse Makarounas, 18, left Glory for Melbourne Victory, casting doubt over the quality of training at his former club and van den Brink agreed the sessions had become “a grind” leading to a loss of player focus.

But he also hailed Ferguson’s fighting spirit, saying it fuelled Glory’s inspiring finals run last season which took them all the way to the grand final before falling 2-1 to Brisbane Roar.

“Nobody likes to lose but he had a great desire to win and his fighting mentality was reflected in the team,” he said.

This season, though, the magic had worn off.

Van den Brink added: “Last season we were winning games even though we didn’t play the best football.

“At times we were very lucky to win games but because you’re on some sort of roll and the whole team believed, we were fighting for each other and just grinding out results. Every win that we got kind of lifted the morale a little bit.

“This year I think we started off quite similar with the same style of football but the results didn’t quite come our way. And everybody’s not so positive any more and maybe starting to doubt a bit and then it just gets a bit harder to keep faith in a good result.”

The former FC Utrecht player described his time in Australia as one of the best periods of his life – the football, lifestyle and good friends ensuring it remained so – adding the future for the local game looked bright.

“In the A-League, everybody sometimes looks up to other leagues too much,” he said. “I think it’s not necessary. I think the standard of the A-League is getting much better and it’s not guaranteed if you play well in other leagues you can just come into the A-League.

“A lot of players come to the A-league and think – oh well we’re just going to do this and it will be easy – and they’re very surprised how hard it is.”