{"id":451158,"date":"2026-05-29T13:29:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T13:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/451158\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T13:29:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T13:29:17","slug":"nix-confirm-mens-departures-wellington-phoenix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/451158\/","title":{"rendered":"Nix confirm men’s departures – Wellington Phoenix"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Wellington Phoenix have farewelled seven members of the men\u2019s 2025-26 squad.<\/p>\n

Josh Oluwayemi, Paulo Retre, Carlo Armiento, Manjrekar James, Dan Edwards, Luke Supyk and Nikola Mileusnic are off contract at the end of next month and won\u2019t be re-signing with the Nix.<\/p>\n

The club thanks them for their contributions to the Phoenix and wishes them all the best for the next steps in their footballing journeys.<\/p>\n

\"\"CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND \u2013 APRIL 18: Josh Oluwayemi of the Phoenix (C) and his team mates celebrate their win in the round 25 A-League Men match between Wellington Phoenix and Western Sydney Wanderers at Apollo Projects Stadium, on April 18, 2026, in Christchurch, New Zealand. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Josh Oluwayemi is leaving the Nix after making 36 appearances in the A-League over the past two seasons.<\/p>\n

The English-Nigerian goalkeeper started 18 matches for the Nix during the 2025-26 campaign, missing the other eight because of an ankle injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy time at Wellington Phoenix has been an important chapter in my career, and one I\u2019ll always look back on with appreciation,\u201d Oluwayemi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to thank the coaches, staff, teammates and supporters for everything during my time at the club. It\u2019s been a privilege to represent Wellington Phoenix and play in front of the fans week-in, week-out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve grown a lot both professionally and personally during my time in Wellington, and I\u2019m grateful for the experiences and relationships that came with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI leave with a lot of respect for the club, the city and everyone connected to it, and I wish Wellington Phoenix nothing but success moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND \u2013 DECEMBER 28: Paulo Retre of the Phoenix celebrates with Alex Rufer and Corban Piper after scoring a goal during the round 10 A-League Men match between the Wellington Phoenix and Newcastle Jets at Sky Stadium, on December 28, 2024, in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Paulo Retre has also been a key member of the men\u2019s squad for the past two years.<\/p>\n

The Australian midfielder featured 37 times for the club in the A-League and scored three goals, most recently in January when he netted the clincher in the 3-0 win at Brisbane Roar.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to thank the players, coaches and fans for the two years I had in Wellington,\u201d Retre said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I wish them all the best for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fellow Australian Carlo Armiento enjoyed the best season of his A-League career after arriving in Wellington on a one-year deal.<\/p>\n

The winger was converted to a wingback and shone, scoring five goals, two of which came in the opening two rounds, and creating two others in 22 appearances.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust wanted to say a massive thanks to all the fans for the support this year,\u201d Armiento said. \u201cI loved every minute of my time at the Phoenix.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a special group and created so many great memories together that I\u2019ll always cherish.<\/p>\n

\u201cWishing the club all the best for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"PERTH, AUSTRALIA \u2013 OCTOBER 18: Carlo Armiento of the Phoenix celebrates his goal during the round one A-League Men match between Perth Glory and Wellington Phoenix at HBF Park, on October 18, 2025, in Perth, Australia. (Photo by James Worsfold\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Centre back Manjrekar James also leaves the Nix after one season.<\/p>\n

The former Canada international made 20 appearances in the A-League, 16 of which were starts, and scored two goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you to the club for having me,\u201d James said. \u201cI wish the Phoenix good luck in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dan Edwards was limited to nine appearances in his maiden season as a professional.<\/p>\n

A knee injury sidelined the left back for the middle third of the A-League and four of his six starts came in the final six rounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to thank the club for giving me my first taste of professional football,\u201d Edwards said. \u201cI\u2019ve thoroughly enjoyed the past eight months with a great group of guys and fantastic fans, and I feel I\u2019ve grown on and off the pitch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish everyone involved with the club all the best for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Dan Edwards (right) attempts to get a cross beyond Bill Tuiloma (left) during a Wellington Phoenix training session at Hnry Stadium. Photo: Cam McIntosh\/Photomac.<\/p>\n

Fellow Kiwi Luke Supyk is ending a five year association with the Phoenix which started in 2021 at the club\u2019s academy.<\/p>\n

The young striker made 11 appearances for the Nix over the past three seasons, one of which was a start.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough it hasn\u2019t worked out the way I hoped, I\u2019m incredibly grateful to all my teammates, coaches, fans, and family for their support over my three years at the club,\u201d Supyk said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve made plenty of great memories and friendships along the way, and I\u2019m excited for whatever comes next.<\/p>\n

\u201cWishing all the players and staff nothing but the best for next season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Injuries meant Nikola Mileusnic only played 86 minutes for the Phoenix in seven appearances off the bench.<\/p>\n

However, the Australian forward will forever be the men\u2019s 200th A-League player as the club reached that milestone when he made his Nix debut in January.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to say thank you to everyone at the club and I wish them all the best.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Wellington Phoenix have farewelled seven members of the men\u2019s 2025-26 squad. Josh Oluwayemi, Paulo Retre, Carlo Armiento,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-451158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}