A-League clubs' search for "bargain buys is set to continue well beyond Boxing Day with teams desperately seeking high-profile guest players who could remain as marquees for next season," according to Dominic Bossi of THE AGE. Struggling "to attract star players, clubs could use the short 14-game guest player window as the start of a long-term stint by then signing players on second-year deals as marquee players." Several clubs are "eager to raise the profile of the competition and improve their own fortunes for the remainder of the season with the signing of star players, such as Ronaldinho and Michael Essien who have been linked with moves to Australia." The league is "in dire need of a boost to its profile with crowds and television ratings dropping since SBS moved Friday night A-League games to SBS 2, leading to an average audience of just 78,000 viewers." Representatives of Ronaldinho and Australian-based agents "have held discussions over the possibility" of bringing the Brazilian to the A-League as a guest player in January and are seeking interest from clubs. The guest-player conditions have been expanded from 10 to 14 games, "though clubs are reluctant to make a significant financial gamble" on a player who may need a number of games to attain the physical conditioning required in the A-League. Essien "remains less likely to make a move to the A-League, having finally made his season debut for Panathanaikos" and playing in the past two games (THE AGE, 12/22).
