Parting Brisbane Roar midfielder Adam Sarota has admitted he will miss the Hyundai A-league club when he departs for his new home with Dutch club FC Utrecht.
Signing a three-year deal, Sarota arrives in the Netherlands in early June to begin pre-season with his new club.
However, training with his old team-mates to maintain fitness and form, Sarota spoke of a bittersweet transfer to one of Europe-s elite leagues – the Eredivisie.
“I wanted to stay at the Roar, but at the end of the day it-s a good move for me,” the 21 year-old said.
It has been a meteoric rise for the North Queensland-raised Sarota with the former Roar youth league player fighting his way into the senior squad at the back end of last season.
Taking his chance in the Hyundai A-league with both hands, Sarota now has eyes set on making his name in the cut-throat world of European football.
“When I stop and think about it, it-s really been a crazy year,” he said.
“At the start of the year I was only coming off the bench every now and again, but when (Roar coach) Ange Postecoglou came in, I played the last nine or ten games of the season.
“And now I-ve got this deal in Holland so it-s been a very big year for me.”
And Sarota contributes much of his successful transfer to his time playing in the Roar-s starting line-up.
“I started playing more games, started to get a little bit more confident and I really got used to the A-league standard,” he said.
“That really helped me in a big way when I went over to train with FC Utrecht.”
However, Sarota will not be leaving the club completely behind with former Roar youngsters Tommy Oar and Michael Zullo also joining the Dutch revolution with FC Utrecht.
“Tommy, Zull-s and I will be moving into a house together so that will be good,” he said.
“It really helps with them being there just so I-m not isolated by myself.”