Newcastle Jets defender Mark Milligan set to seal move to China

January 30, 2009

NEWCASTLE Jets have confirmed Australia defender Mark Milligan will leave the A-League club to join Chinese outfit Shanghai Shenhua.

The former Sydney FC defender will undergo a medical in China on Monday, and if successful he will participate in the Asian Champions League competition with his new club.

The 23-year-old played 11 A-League games for the Jets this season, after initially joining the club as a guest player having unsuccessfully spent time in Europe trialling with Arsenal and German side Werder Bremen.

"Obviously our club would have loved to have kept a player of Mark's talent for the duration of his contracted period,'' said Jets chief executive John Tsatsimas.

"However, a player of that ability and with a desire to further his career overseas is always going to attract strong attention from other clubs.

"The opportunity that was presented to us by Shanghai Shenhua was one that we could not turn down.''

The Jets also announced on Friday that Danish midfielder Jesper Hakansson had left the club despite having another year on his contract.

The former Denmark international's time at the Jets was blighted by injuries and he made just five appearances this season.