NEW A-League franchise, the Wellington Phoenix, are ready to make an offer to Conference National club, St. Albans City, for their captain, Lee Clarke. Clarke, 23, has represented Northern Ireland at youth level and also boasts an impressive scoring record for The Friars in the lower leagues of England. New teammate Malik Buari, formerly of New Zealand Knights, has convinced Clarke to try his luck in the newly formed A-League, saying that Clarke has all the attributes to succeed in the highly physical competition. Lee is also the son of Colin who represented Northern Ireland 38 times, played at the 1986 World Cup and turned out for English sides Southampton, Q.P.R., and Portsmouth. Meanwhile, the Phoenix were knocked back by Chilean midfielder Pablo Diaz. Diaz currently plays for Argentina's Quilmes and rejected the offer to be Wellington's marquee as he did not wish to leave South America as well as the franchise being unable to meet Diaz' wage demands.

This article has been provided by:
Daniele Marchegiani of Buenos Aires