EXCLUSIVE: FRINGE SOCCEROOS KEEPER BOUND FOR WANDERERS
Fringe Socceroos keeper Lawrence Thomas will quit Denmark’s Superliga at the end of the season to join Western Sydney Wanderers’ rebuild under Mark RudanThomas, 29, has made 56 league appearances since arriving in Scandinavia from the A-League’s Melbourne Victory nearly two years ago.
Gloveman Lawrence Thomas is heading back to the A-League from Denmark to join Western Sydney Wanderers. The fringe Socceroo’s club side SønderjyskE are set to be relegated, prompting the move back home. Thomas made his Socceroos debut in the World Cup qualifier against Nepal 10 months ago. But with his club side SønderjyskE hurtling towards relegation and usurped by understudy Nicolai Flø Jepsen, an A-League return looks signed and sealed.
Thomas, who made his Socceroos debut last year against Nepal, was an ever-present in his debut season in Denmark, and until recently remained SønderjyskE’s first choice. However, the club’s impending drop to the second tier – they are five points adrift at the bottom of the ladder – has made an A-League reunion for the ex-Melbourne Victory gloveman all but inevitable, with Wanderers dangling a multi-year deal.
A regular face in recent Socceroos squads, Thomas will be an important acquisition for Rudan, who is in the process of refashioning in his own image the squad he inherited from Carl Robinson. Thomas will take over the number one jersey from Daniel Margush, with the future of Spaniard Tomas Mejias under threat and veteran Vedran Janjetovic certain to depart Wanderland.
Thomas began his career in Sydney’s west with NSW Premier League side Marconi Stallions, before a nine-year stretch with Victory followed on the heels of a brief spell at Sheffield United. Despite their Super Liga troubles, SønderjyskE have reached the semi-final of the Danish Cup for the third successive year, offering the opportunity for Thomas to possibly go out with a bang.