A-League: Jets have money to spend and places to fill as coach Arthur Papas hunts for depth

Two months out from season kick-off, Papas has up to four places to fill.

Socceroos defender Matt Jurman, Cameroon international Olivier Boumal and Georgian striker Beka Mikeltadze are among 12 fresh faces from the side that finished second last in 2020-21.

The turnover in personnel is the biggest of any A-League club, two more than 2020-21 wooden-spooners Melbourne Victory.

At present, the Jets have 20 senior contracted players, excluding scholarship holders Archie Goodwin and Blake Archbold.

Cameron Devlin, who inked a two-year deal in June but is yet is touch down in Newcastle, has triggered a buyout clause and is awaiting a visa to be processed to complete a move to Scottish Premier League club Hearts.

A-League clubs can have up to 23 senior players and three scholarship players.

"I still think we have something to add in the front third and maybe one or two position where there is still an opportunity to bring in depth or competition," Papas said.

The A-League salary cap, which was cut to $2.1 million last season due to the impacts of COVID, has been bumped up to $2.5m for the 2021-22 campaign.

Executive chairman Shane Mattiske confirmed on Tuesday that the Jets would spend the full salary cap.

"The situation is constantly moving but we do have some capacity to make changes," Mattiske said.

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Devlin was central to Papas' rebuild and the likelihood of replacing the defensive midfielder looms as a priority.

"There is a situation with Cameron that is not completely solved as yet," Papas said. "For his sake, you would love for that to happen but it is not completed.

"We have a couple of contingencies in place. That is something that has to play itself out. We are not going to sign someone when the other player hasn't left yet."

Steve Ugarkovic, who played 100 games straight at the base of midfield, was among 16 players to depart the Jets.

Angus Thurgate and late-season arrival Jordan O'Doherty can fill the role, but are more adept further forward, while Ben Kantarovski is making a slow comeback from surgery.

Mo Al-Taay, who joined the Jets from Western Sydney, is yet to play in the A-League but has impressed in the pre-season.

"All of them have capabilities to play that role," Papas said. "Probably the one who is most suited is Mo. He has that real defensive mindset. He is very aggressive and wins a lot of tackles. The other boys could all play there.

"Our plan from the start, Cameron was obviously part of that. As well as the right depth and competition, we want the right balance as well.

"Once you start plugging square holes with round pegs it doesn't necessarily work and you don't want to be doing that too early."

Former Socceroos striker Eli Babalj, Papua New Guinean international Tommy Semmy and former Young Socceroos midfielder Kosta Grozos have been training with the Jets and remain in contention for a contract.

"We want to have a lot of competition,"Papas said. "We want players to know they have an opportunity but it is not straight forward that they have a guaranteed spot every week. There is no such thing."

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