A-League Men: Perth Glory football director Stan Lazaridis eager to re-sign Luke Amos amid Joe Lolley rumours

Perth Glory director of football Stan Lazaridis is supremely confident in re-signing Luke Amos after the English midfielder’s impressive short-term stint. Lazardis also confirmed their interest in Sydney FC winger Joe Lolley, but vowed it would not come at the expense of club captain Adam Taggart amid the Sky Blues reportedly being interested in a swap deal. With Glory now in off-season mode, the pressure is on Lazaridis to build a more competitive squad after Perth picked up their second wooden spoon in as many years. The arrival of Wellington Phoenix defenders Scott Wootton and Sam Sutton is anticipated to be announced in the coming weeks, while The West understands Lachie Wales and Trent Ostler are expected to re-sign with Perth. However, it appears Glory have missed out on young Sydney forward Jaiden Kucharski, with Western United understood to be leading the race for his signature. With English centre-back Wootton and left-back Sutton set to occupy two of the club’s five visa spots for next season, Perth fans are hopeful they will be joined by Amos. The Tottenham academy graduate and former Queens Park Rangers midfielder scored Perth’s goal of the season and provided some much-needed steel and polish in the centre of the park across his nine appearances. “We want to retain Luke, 100 per cent,” Lazaridis told The West Australian. “I cannot see that not happening and Luke wants to be here as well; fans like him, we like him, he’s done great. “He’s something different, his CV, you can see the way he presses and the way he attacks. “If we landed him, that would be a top signing for us. I’d say near enough that he would be here.” Code Sports reported informal discussions took place between Perth and Sydney in regards to the availability of Lolley, who has scored 27 goals in 79 games across three seasons with the Sky Blues — but only if back-to-back Most Glorious Player Taggart went the other way. Lazaridis said he was a great admirer of Lolley and had a good relationship with Sydney head of player management Alex Baumjohann, but had no intentions of letting Taggart leave. Taggart has one year left on his deal and Lazaridis said they would look to discuss an extension with the homegrown striker, who spoke earlier this month about his desire to win silverware with Perth. “Tags has been wanted by Sydney for a number of years, not just now. He (Baumjohann) would love Tags, I would love Joe, but if you give one for the other, you’re still in the same boat,” Lazaridis said. “I’d be slaughtered if I did that deal. “Would I love to bring Joe Lolly to Perth Glory? You bet I would, he’s my style of player. He’s exactly what we need; the way we play here, he would fit in lovely and he was working with (coach David Zdrilic) for a couple of years.” Code Sport also reported Perth could also be interested in signing former Glory star Bruno Fornaroli, although it is doubtful the 37 year-old would be the best fit for Zdrilic’s high-pressing system. “I’m a big fan of Bruno, since he’s come to the A-League. He spent a bit of number of years here, the Glory fans like him, I think he’s got a house here,” Lazaridis said. “I would say the only way Bruno would work for us is in an impact role; he would start some games but his role would be very different, he would have to embrace that and I’m sure he would. “The likelihood is it’s probably very unlikely, but it’s worth a discussion.” On Tuesday, Glory officially confirmed the departures of star attacking midfielder Jaylan Pearman, Belgian left-back Anas Hamzaoui, defender Lachie Barr, homegrown full-back Riley Warland, Japanese midfielder Hiroaki Aoyama and on-loan Sydney FC forward Patrick Wood. Pearman’s exit has been known for some time, with the dynamic academy graduate due to join Queens Park Rangers.