The 33-year-old admitted playing alongside Robbie Fowler was part of the attraction and said talks with Fury were progressing smoothly.

Chipperfield could find himself a new club within the month as he looks to bring to an end a successful eight year spell in Europe.

"It's pretty close. It's time to come back to the A-League. I've had eight years in Europe now," Chipperfield said in Yokohama.

"It's not an easy decision, especially with the World Cup coming. But I think it's the right time for me to come back to the A-League.

"Maybe at the end of the season I'd go on loan somewhere to stay fit for the World Cup. But we'll worry about that when it happens and obviously we've got to qualify for the World Cup yet."

Fury chairman Don Matheson said Chipperfield could take a similar path to Jason Culina with a loan move on the table in the A-League's lengthy off season.

"Our deal and our offer to him would allow him, at the end of the season, to be loaned out if that's what he felt would keep him in the Socceroos," Matheson told The Townsville Bulletin.

"But there's no reason why coming back to the A-League, we think, would disadvantage his desire to stay in touch with the Socceroos and be a part of that World Cup."

It's likely the veteran Socceroo's wife Stefanie will make the final decision on whether Townsville is the right place for her family.

My wife's coming to Australia next week and she'll go to Townsville. She wants to go to uni there, so we have to see if she can do that," Chipperfield said.