MELBOURNE Heart's recruitment drive is firmly focused on adding 'international quality' to the A-League bones of their inaugural squad as they prepare to enter the competition.
Mark Viduka will not be joining the club but the search for established stars continues, according to assistant coach Jesper Olsen.
Both he and coach John van't Schip (pictured) are busy trying to put those pieces of the jigsaw in place.
"We have signed a few players already from the A-League which are the bones of the team, but we want to add some international quality and that is what we are trying to do now," said Olsen.
"We are doing a bit of scouting abroad at the moment so hopefully there will be a mixture of players from the A-League, youngsters from the likes of the AIS and, some exciting players from abroad."
While quality is a key factor, Heart are also certain of the way they want their recruits to play. That means a 4-3-3 system.
"John van 't Schip has very much emphasised that we are going to play attacking football with a lot of flair as well. I think the exciting thing about this is we can teach the young players a lot. There is a system we want to play, and I think we can get them very quickly to a different level," added Olsen.
"But first, we've got to identify and recruit the right players for that system, and that is the task we are working on at the moment."
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