The Western Sydney Wanderers will unveil their new $300-million stadium with a blockbuster friendly against Leeds United in July.
Championship side Leeds are in the race to be promoted to the Premier League for the first time since Socceroos legend Mark Viduka led them in goals in 2003-04.
“We can’t wait to get into our stadium,” Western Sydney CEO John Tsatsimas said on Monday.
“Obviously the events of the weekend showcased the need for a football-specific stadium and a Wanderers-specific stadium for our fans and the region.
“We can not be prouder to be hosting Marcelo Bielsa and his team in July 2019.”
Tsatsimas remained confident the club wouldn’t face the same issues as NRL club Parramatta did in negotiating a long-term deal with the stadium.
The Wanderers and stadium operators are deep in talks, however, it is anticipated that an agreement won’t be reached until midway through next year.
“This Leeds game is a show of where we sit in terms of our relationship, not withstanding that we haven’t done a long-form agreement as yet,” Tsatsimas said.
“It’s all steam ahead planning for next season in terms of where we’re going.
“We can’t wait to get in to alleviate a lot of the problems not only in terms of the surface and presentation, but also the scheduling challenges that we’ve had.”