Sutherland junior Chris Ikonomidis has returned home to Australia, joining Western Sydney Wanderers on loan until the end of the season.
The 22-year-old from Cronulla, who has made six appearances for the Socceroos, left his Italian Serie A club Lazio to join Josep Gombau’s side.
The attacking midfielder only made one first team appearance for Lazio after joining the club in 2013.
Ikonomidis was handed his international debut in 2015 in a friendly against FYR Macedonia but hasn’t played for Australia since 2016 when he played in the Socceroos’ 2-1 loss to Greece in Melbourne.
The temporary shift is expected to help Ikonomidis get his career back on track. He is likely to be rushed into the Wanderers squad for their trip to the Central Coast on Sunday.
He has until the end of the season to impress new Socceroos coach Bert van Marwijk to have any chance of breaking into World Cup calculations.
