It’s been a busy week for A-League heavyweights Sydney FC. Unfortunately for the boys known as Bling FC, most of the action has been at the airport and not on the pitch.

Following their impressive displays at the AFC Asian Cup, Sydney players David Carney and Mark Milligan were certain to attract interest from European clubs who are currently running around the globe with open chequebooks as the clock ticks down to the closure of the transfer window prior to the start of the season.

Carney has flown to the UK to a sign a three-year deal with Sheffield United, a club recently relegated from the English Premier League. He had tried to catch a plane earlier this week but turned on his heel at the airport when he was told Sydney had yet to give him permission to leave.

Normally A-League clubs are sympathetic to overtures from European clubs. However, Sydney’s initial reluctance to say bon voyage to Carney is understandable in light of the Mark Milligan saga.

Milligan, it seems, didn’t stand on ceremony, not even so much as a note on the fridge in the clubrooms, before he legged it to France to try out with Metz. What wasn’t in the script was the French club’s insistence that he try out at right-back, a position the football fugitive believes is not his best and so he’s heading home to explain himself to his current employers.

Sydney has said that no action will be taken against their globe-trotting defender, which is certainly a pragmatic decision. With the season almost upon them and with the salary cap and squad numbers strictly policed, they can’t afford to lose him.

The whole saga is an embarrassment for Milligan. Yes, he was a standout at the Asian Cup, but that didn’t make him Roberto Carlos overnight. His European odyssey has been something of a reality check for the young star, who has a big future as a Socceroo and a European move somewhere on the horizon.

The better the A-League gets, the more attractive its stars becomes to poachers. It’s the age-old problem that has plagued the sport in this country for decades. It’s just now the shop window is bigger and brighter, and we have to hope that it somehow works both ways.

And with today’s eminent announcement that Sydney FC have signed Brazilian legend and former Middlesbrough, Ateltico Madrid and Celtic star Juninho Paulista, we can at least be reassured it’s not all one way traffic at Sydney airport.