Four Sydney FC players have recently rejected new offers from the club, paving the way for a mini exodus from the Harbour City. Robbie Middleby (signed with North Queensland), Iain Fyfe, Jacob Timpano and Brendon Santalab all said no to deals put forward by the Sky Blues and look likely to agree to more lucrative offers elsewhere.

Sydney FC coach John Kosmina was disillusioned with the system, saying players are shopping around too early.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Kosmina said, "I think the whole process is flawed.

"I know you can speak to players six months before the expiration of their contract. But if you go back to October 1, what, we'd played five rounds in the A-League and you've already got players talking about where they're going to be next year. It's crazy.

"From a club perspective, if you're trying to get someone across the line, you know you're wavering whether you sign them or you don't and what direction the club wants to go - you're forced into making early decisions.

"It looks like Robbie is going to leave (for North Queensland Fury), there's talk about Iain Fyfe going to Adelaide or overseas, same with Brendon Santalab at the Gold Coast.

"We've made offers to them that have been knocked back from their point of view, so we've got to make some decisions - we're forced into it.

"I'd like to see it go back to the old days where you get your transfer deals done at the end of the year and not beforehand, but I don't know if we'll ever get back to that."