Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Melbourne City coach Aurelio Vidmar never wanted German Ferreyra to leave the club, but now that the Argentine hardman has, there will be no room for sentiment on his return to AAMI Park on Saturday night with Western Sydney.
Ferreyra spent two years with City, and helped Vidmar’s team win the 2025 A-League title.
“He was an extremely valuable (player) for the club during his time here,” Vidmar said of the South American centre-back.
Ferreyra was so “valuable” that Vidmar was desperate to re-sign him when his two-year deal at the end of last season.
However, terms could not be agreed on.
“We would have loved to have kept him, but couldn’t,” Vidmar said on Friday.
“(It was) financials. They couldn’t agree.”
While City was disappointed to lose Ferreyra, what perhaps left the Melbourne club more irked was news two months that the defender had joined the Wanderers on a three-year deal.
When Ferreyra parted ways with City, the club had been told it was to “pursue opportunities overseas”.
“He brought so much to the team here, and I’m sure he’s bringing the same qualities as a person and a player to the Wanderers,” Vidmar said.
“He’s across the border now, so as much as I have a lot of respect for him, now he’s part of the opposition, and will be treated as so.
“I wouldn’t say we’re wary of him, but we know what to expect from him.”
Ferrerya has been part of an impressive Wanderers defensive unit that has kept clean sheets in two of the club’s three A-League games this season.
Wanderers coach Ufuk Talay praised the former Argentine under-17 international for the impact he had made at his new club.
“He has been fantastic,” Talay said.
“He’s a great individual, a great human being, and a very good footballer. He’s also a great leader, and he’s definitely helped us.”
Ferreyra also had the ball in the back of net last week, but was controversially ruled offside in a game that finished in a scoreless draw between Wanderers and Macarthur FC at Campbelltown Sports Stadium.
Talay said he had been told by Football Australia referees’ boss Jon Moss that the VAR had been wrong in judging Ferreyra to be offside.
“They believe that it was a goal and that the VAR shouldn’t have intervened,” the Wanderers coach said.
“That’s the way it is, unfortunately. We’re all humans, we all make mistakes, and we move on to the next game.”
