“We've got a number of players we're talking to based here in the A-League... but we've got an opportunity after the season is over to go over to Italy,” Van Egmond told au.fourfourtwo.com.

“I'll be going with Remo [Nogarotto] and Mark Jones and we'll do some scouting as well as personal development after the season and with that there are some players that we've been told about.

“We'll get to see them first hand.”

Van Egmond's imports this season, Brazilian Mario Jardel and Argentine Jorge Drovandi, were both frustrating failures.

Jardel returned home last week and Drovandi was off-loaded early on after only one appearance. Neither played a full game or scored.

“I felt a bit sorry for Jorge. He came here maybe not expecting it to be as physical or as quick and we probably put him in an environment that wasn't conducive to him to express himself in his football,” said Van Egmond.

“And that's not to say Jorge is a bad player – he wanted to play a certain way and obviously he wasn't playing and he moved on.

“We didn't get it right this year,” admitted the Jets coach. “We put a lot of stock in some of these overseas players and they didn't provide the effectiveness we needed.

“But credit goes to our players – particularly some who've developed perhaps quicker than we expected late in the season.”

Van Egmond hopes by seeing and meeting players in Italy himself, he'll be able to find players to fit easily into his group.

“If your recruitment is poor and you have some bad personalities then it's going to be a lot harder to manage the group. You may have a player who is extremely talented but if he's a bad apple, it's really not going to do you much good.

“Before you sign them you need to sit down and talk to them and also get advice about them from people you respect who've maybe had dealings with them.”

However, one player who Van Egmond has no problems with is exciting new South Korean signing Song Jin-hyung.

The Jets coach has hinted the former South Korean U/20 star will play some part in the major semi final second leg in Gosford on February 10.