COACH Graham Arnold said the door was open for Apostolos Stamatelopoulos to spearhead the Socceroos attack all the way to the next World Cup and compared the Jets striker's aerial prowess to that of national team legend Tim Cahill.
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Stamatelopoulos is set to make his Socceroos debut against Palestine in Perth on Tuesday night.
Adam Taggart, Bruno Fornoroli, Mitchell Duke, Kusini Yengi and John Iredale have played up front for national team in the past six months.
Only Yengi (25) and Iredale (24) are under the age of 30. Fornaroli will be 38 and Duke 35 by the next World Cup in 2026.
"If you look at the age group of the No.9s, there are probably one or two who can make it all the way to America in 2026," Arnold said.
"Stamatelopoulos had a fantastic season. He has a great work rate and he is a calm finisher. If he gets an opportunity in the penalty box, he is very calm to put it in the back of the net."
Dimi Petratos was the last Jets player to feature for the national team back in 2018. The attacking midfielder scored 10 goals in the 2017-18 A-League campaign.
Stamatelopoulos netted a club-record 17 this season - almost half the Jets' tally of 39. Of those, six were from headers, despite him being relatively short for a striker.
"Tim Cahill wasn't that tall either and was great in the air," Arnold said. "Stamma is the same. He has great timing, he has a good leap and technically he is very good with his head."
Cahill, who stands 1.78m, scored 50 goals in 108 appearances for the Socceroos. He also netted 56 goals for Everton in the English Premier League. Many of the goals were headers.
The midfielder captained the Socceroos nine times.
Arnold, who coached Cahill at international level, has been impressed with Stamatelopoulos' leadership.
"Rob Stanton is doing a fantastic job up there at Newcastle," Arnold said. "They have a lot of young boys and may that continue.
"Stamma has had a big role to play in the way he leads. He is only 25 but he has all the leadership qualities that can help generate a great culture in the team."
Meanwhile, the Jets are understood to be on the verge of announcing the takeover of the club by a consortium of Melbourne and Sydney businessmen.
The club has been funded by owners of rival clubs since Martin Lee had his franchise license stripped in 2021,
The transfer of the A-League license is subject to final approval from Football Australia.
