As unsubstantiated rumours swirl online about his immediate future in western Sydney, Westmead-born footballer Aydan Hammond said he’d love to return overseas one day and play in front of big crowds in Europe.
Prior to returning to the Wanderers ahead of the 2023/24 season, the 21-year-old spent eight years overseas in Portugal, learning his craft in the football-mad nation.
Speaking with Parra News last month, Hammond said he loves being back home in western Sydney, but he initially never planned to return to Australia.
“To be honest, I thought I was going to spend my whole career there [in Europe] … I didn’t have plans to come back,” he admitted.
“I had a few situations going on that we don’t need to get into, but I always had coming back to Australia as an option.
“I’ve seen a lot of players develop here and I knew that this would be a great place for me to come back and play.”
Hammond has played in all Wanderers matches to start the season, but some believe he hasn’t been getting the game time on the field to showcase his abilities.
Prior to the season starting, Hammond said he was grateful Western Sydney opened their arms and welcomed him back home.
“I can only thank them for giving me the opportunity,” he said.
“The Wanderers is the perfect club for me. I’m from the area and I’ve supported this club since I was a kid.
“It’s a great place to be at especially if you’re young. I’m 21, so I’m very happy to be here.”
But while he loves getting to play top-flight football in the A-League, his ultimate dream is return to Europe in the future and become Australia’s next international star.
“I think if you ask any player here in Australia, they would all say the same thing – the plan is to definitely go back overseas,” Hammond said.
“If you haven’t been, it’s definitely a place you want to go, but you should also appreciate what we’ve got here. We have a lot of talent here and it just keeps growing and growing.
“It’s definitely what I want to achieve – head back to Europe – it doesn’t matter where, I just want to make my career as long as it can be.”
If Hammond does leave at the conclusion of the A-League Men’s season – or perhaps earlier – he’ll join a long list of former Wanderers stars playing in one of the many big European competitions. The highly skilled attacker said those players are an inspiration to him.
“The ones who have played here and gone overseas are doing well – it’s not like they are struggling – they are doing very well and it’s good to see,” Hammond said.
“For me that’s important because if I want to get over there, it’s a good stepping stone that they’ve created. I’m keen to play here this year and then hopefully go over there.”
Nathan Taylor is Parra News' sports journalist. He also compiles the weekly Chatter on the Box TV column. Nathan is an award-winning journalist, who has worked in western Sydney media for more than a decade.