Carney completes Twente switch

Australia left-back David Carney is ready to relaunch his club career with FC Twente after signing a two-year deal with the Eredivisie outfit from Championship side Sheffield United.

The 25-year-old, who is expected to feature for the Socceroos in next year’s World Cup finals in South Africa, had fallen out of favour at Sheffield United and spent time on loan with Norwich at the end of last season.

But Steve McClaren has given Carney a chance to play top-flight football again with the Enschede-based club.

“Since the departure of Edson Braafheid to Bayern Munich, we wanted a replacement. With Nicky Kuiper we have a talented player for the future and we also have Jeroen Heubach,” McClaren told the club’s website.

“We wanted to look at our depth and increase competition for that position on the left. We have seen Carney and also obtained information from Luke Wilkshire and Pim Verbeek, the coach of Australia. Both were very positive about Carney.”

Wilkshire spent time at Twente before moving to Dinamo Moscow last year and had no hesitation recommending his countryman.

Carney helped put himself on the radar by scoring a sensational late goal for the Socceroos in the recent match against Republic of Ireland in Limerick.