Central Coast Mariners midfielder Michael McGlinchey has joined Vegalta Sendai on loan.
The 26-year old New Zealand international will link up with former Mariners boss Graham Arnold in Japan on a year-long loan while ex-Central Coast striker Bernie Ibini will return to the Gosford club from Chinese outfit Shanghai SIPG until May 31, 2014.
"Of course it is not ideal for us to lose a player of Michael McGlinchey's quality mid-way through the season, but when an opportunity to move to a league such as the J.League presents itself, players naturally want to head abroad and test themselves," Mariners head coach Phil Moss said.
"Mikey is headed to Vegalta under Arnie (Graham Arnold) for a season and will return as a Central Coast Mariners player when the 2014 J.League season concludes.
"Throughout our negotiations with Mikey and Bernie's representatives, as well as Vegalta and Shanghai, we were clear that we were not willing to let Mikey go on loan unless we were guaranteed to get a high-quality player back in return."
