NEW defender Phil Cancar has arrived from Scotland and could make his A-League debut for the Newcastle Jets off the bench against Melbourne Victory at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday.
Cancar and right back Tom Aquilina have inked 18-month deals, completing a busy period for the Jets in the transfer window which closed on Tuesday night.
Aquilina was part of a trade with the Central Coast, which resulted in James McGarry travelling down the freeway to the Mariners.
"It felt like we were in the English Premier League on deadline day," Jets coach Arthur Papas said. "I spent about 12 hours on the phone. We got Tom done at 10.30pm Tuesday."
Cancar, a 186cm centreback, has spent the past six months at Scottish Premier League club Livingston.
The departure of Jordan Elsey to Perth Glory earlier this month left a hole at the back for the Jets. An ankle injury to Mark Natta has further hurt the stocks.
Utility Jason Hoffman covered in the heart of defence for the final 10 minutes of the 2-all draw against Perth on Saturday after Carl Jenkinson went off.
"With Elsey moving on, he was an experienced centreback and we hadn't replaced him in any capacity," Papas said. "I was really mindful of not bringing in someone for the sake of another number.
"Phillip will be on the training ground on Friday and is not out of the picture [for Sunday]. He has been in a full-time environment. We have to see where he is at. We are a bit short in that area.
"Mark Natta got his foot caught in the turf when he came on against Brisbane and has done some ligament damage. He is not far from being OK, but he is not there yet."
Cancar, after a breakout campaign with Western Sydney last season, signed a two-year deal with Livingston.
The 21-year-old made his league debut in the season opener, a 2-1 loss to Rangers, but has been limited to just five first-team appearances across all competitions.
"Through a contact of mine in Scotland, I received a call to say Phil was struggling for game time," Papas said. "He was on the bench for most games but wasn't getting minutes. It is a really competitive league. The feedback from the coach, David Martindale, was that it was probably a step too early to have gone over there, and he didn't settle as quickly as they would have liked. He had another 18 months on his contract and could have sat there. At his age, he needs to be playing. He is probably in a better position to do that here.
"I thought he did very well at Western Sydney last year. He is a young centreback who has a lot of upside to him. I think he can give us something for this season and next season.
"He is desperate to carve out a big career. Don't look it as though it hasn't worked out over there, look at it as an opportunity. Come back, build yourself up over the next 18 months and if he is good enough, it will be there again in the future."
Aquilina is also ready to play. The 22-year-old started at left back for the Mariners in the 3-2 loss to Sydney FC on Saturday.
A former Young Socceroo, Aquilina made 12 appearances for the Mariners this season and has 52 A-League games under his belt.
"It came about because Jimmy [McGarry] received a call from the Central Coast asking if he was open to an opportunity," Papas said. "He has been a good contributor for us has not been playing as regularly as he would like.
"We didn't want to stand in his way, but we also had to make sure we were not hurting ourselves in the process. Tom is a player I have known for a while and is another who is a really good prospect."
Left back Lucas Mauragis is on loan at Wellington Phoenix and Papas said his return next season was a "big part" of the decision to release McGarry.
"Lucas is getting minutes at Wellington and doing well," Papas said. "He is a Newcastle Jets player and we get him back next year. All of a sudden we are really strong in those wide areas with depth and youth as well."
The addition of Cancar and Aquilina followed the arrival last week of Japanese international Manabu Saito.
"If we look at this window now, which didn't have a lot of possibilities in the beginning, we have come out of it in a decent spot," Papas said.
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