SYDNEY (Reuters) – Melbourne City left back Jordan Bos has agreed to join Belgian Pro League team Westerlo for a fee that the A-League side said was a record received by an Australian club.
The move, which is subject to a medical, caps a meteoric rise for 20-year-old Bos, who made his debut for City last season and won his first cap for Australia against Ecuador in March this year.
Local media reports said the deal was worth close to A$2 million ($1.36 million), bettering the A$1.7 million that English club Leicester City paid Sydney United for goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac in 1995.
It also exceeds the A-League record A$1.5 million that Manchester City paid its Melbourne sister club in the Emirati-owned City Football Group for midfielder Aaron Mooy in 2016.
“We are incredibly proud of our track record in developing young Australian talent,” Melbourne City chief executive Brad Rowse said in a media release.
“The transfer fee for Jordan is a record for any Australian club and is a testament to his talent and to the strength of our academy programme.”
Bos will remain at City until the end of the current campaign, which could be as early as Friday when they take on Sydney FC in the home leg of their championship playoff semi-final. The first leg last Friday finished 1-1.
($1 = 1.4743 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
