Joel King says he hopes a return to Australian shores with Sydney FC will propel him back into Socceroos' contention in 2023.
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The sky blues announced last week that the Shellharbour talent had come back to the A-League Men's outfit for the remainder of this season, on a loan deal from his Danish club Odense BK.
The move came just over 12 months after King left Australia to join Odense BK, who play in the Danish Superliga. While the opportunity has provided a great learning curve, the 22-year-old has been restricted to limited game time.
So when a recent chance to return to the A-Leagues arose, the left back decided to grab it with both hands.
He has since landed back in Sydney and was in the change rooms for the sky blues' 3-2 win over the Mariners on Saturday.
King - who made his Socceroos debut last year and has now made four international appearances - is in line to officially mark his return when Sydney FC take on rivals the Wanderers this weekend at CommBank Stadium.
"It (the signing) happened quite quickly actually. I knew I wasn't favoured at my club so I wasn't expecting to receive anywhere near as many minutes as I'd like, so I spoke with the club and my agent and decided maybe it's best for me to go on loan," King told the Mercury.
"With little time to find a club, my agent spoke with Sydney and (head coach) Steve (Corica), and we were pleased to hear that they would be interested to loan me for the rest of the season. Sydney is a club that I know very well, so it wasn't hard for me to commit.
"Sitting on the bench in Denmark is not helping my chances of being selected in the national team. The best thing for me is to play and get minutes under my belt. Ideally, it would have been better if I stayed in Europe, but that's the way football is sometimes.
"Opportunity were limited in Europe so I have to make the most with what I have now."
King arrives back at Sydney FC with the team fighting for a place in the A-League Men's finals.
The sky blues sit in sixth place on the table, and Corica has been under constant scrutiny from fans and the media for their mixed performances this season.
However, the defender said that he was keen to once again work with Corica, who was his coach at Sydney FC last season.
"Steve has been incredibly influential to my career. I have learned bucket loads from him and he was the one that showed faith in me to pay and develop as a young player," King said.
"Sydney are not doing as well as we'd like at the moment, so it has really created a lot of motivation for me to do my best to help put this club back where it belongs."
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Joshua Bartlett
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
