Paartalu's contract with Al Kharaitiyat was mutually terminated on December 23. The central midfielder, who had joined the club in October, made 10 appearances.

Paartalu had a difficult 2016, receiving little game-time in a six-month spell at Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in Korea. Now back in Sydney, the 30-year old is on the hunt for a new club and while he is open to an A-League move, his main goal is Asia.

"I'm trying to get a move to a new Asian club or country," Paartalu told FourFourTwo.

"I'm open to absolutely everything (including the A-League). But I just feel with what happened in South Korea to me, I lost a good part of the season there. I'm trying to recoup that and get back playing as soon as I can.

"There's quite a bit of movement at the moment in Asia for Australian players. We'll wait and see what happens but as a free agent I can move outside of the transfer windows."

The former Socceroo was frozen out at Jeonbuk after leaving Melbourne City in February 2016.

"Korea was really a one-off experience," Paartalu admitted.

"I don't think I was given a fair chance. It was a really tough time for myself but I learned a lot about the person that I am and I didn't give up on it, even after they tried to push me out I still stayed around for an extra five months.

"At times training alone, doing double sessions by myself, just being an absolute outcast really. Then the opportunity to come to Qatar came up and it was an opportunity to get some games. I went there and I played 10 games in the league.

"It just didn't work out there. They were a team that needed a striker and actually in the last three games I played for the team in Qatar I was playing as a number 9. There was all sorts of problems in Qatar for the whole league, people were owed a lot of money, myself included.

"The decision to mutually terminate and get the money I was owed and to move on was probably the right thing to do at the time."

Paartalu said he last played up front when he was 10 years as a junior in Sydney.

"It was a really strange scenario," he said.

"I was played well as a defensive midfielder and as each game came they kept moving me further and further up the pitch. I literally played as a 6, as an 8, as a 10 and a 9. I thought I did really well in each position, I just didn't get any goals. It was an experience in itself."

Paartalu, who broke into the NSL with Northern Spirit as a teenager, made his name in the A-League with a three-year stint at Brisbane Roar. The midfielder has also spent time playing in Scotland, China and Thailand.

"A big piece of me was taken out last season in my football heart," Paartalu said.

"I want to find somewhere playing at a good level, where I'll have a stable season just playing regular football and to enjoy it again. It was very difficult in Korea but Qatar was a breath of fresh air, I had a really good time there and enjoyed my football.

"I'm 30 now so I want to playing football week-in-week-out. I want to find the right team for me that plays the way I'm capable of and also to a team that wants me. I had two weeks off over the Christmas period and I've started to train myself working with a personal trainer in Sydney.

"I'm working hard to get back to a really good level so wherever I'm going to go, hopefully I can step in and play a game straight away. That's the challenge, to get the main fitness. It was just a good time to have a mental break as well, over Christmas and New Year, spend time with family and just try and really focus on what I want from the game."