The Wellington Phoenix can confirm that Ulises Davila will be departing the club at the end of the 2020/21 A-League season, in spite of the Club’s record-setting efforts to retain him.
Wellington Phoenix General Manager David Dome says the Club had put considerable resource and effort into re-signing Davila, following his two impactful seasons with the Phoenix.
“The Wellington Phoenix put forward the single-largest contract ever in its history in order to retain Ulises, who has shone in the A-League within Coach Talay’s system,” said Dome.
“But Ulises and his family have chosen to pursue a different challenge for next season and we fully respect that – so we thank Ulises for the two exciting seasons he gave us and wish him all the best with this footballing future.”
Dome says that the silver lining to this outcome has been the ownership’s clear commitment to investing in the Phoenix’s future.
“While the club is disappointed in Ulises’ decision, this process signals that the Welnix ownership group are prepared to do whatever it takes to build a winning team – including investing heavily in retaining and recruiting players next season to help build a stronger Phoenix squad.
“We’ve already re-signed the architect of our recent success in coach Ufuk Talay, as well as three key New Zealand players in Oli [Sail], Clayton [Lewis] and Waino [Ben Waine] and will be making further announcements soon.
“Given how we ended this season [on an 11-match unbeaten streak] despite the immense challenges the Phoenix faced as a football club this season due to Covid, I see exciting times ahead for this Club.”
