Central Coast Mariners have lost two of their championship winning stars in one evening after selling Trent Sainsbury to Dutch club PEC Zwolle and veteran forward Daniel McBreen to Shanghai SIPG.

The club confirmed that they bowed to pressure from their supporter group to allow McBreen to finalise a lucrative move to China in what is expected to the last transfer of his career while defender Trent Sainsbury sealed his long-awaited move to Europe after signing a 2-year deal with PEC just hours before the close of the January transfer window.

Dream move: Trent Sainsbury's move to Holland could boost the classy young defender's World Cup chances. Credit:Mal Fairclough

Despite attracting the attention of rival Dutch club FC Utrecht, teams in Switzerland as well as Bolton Wanderers in recent months, Sainsbury opted to sign for the mid-table Eredivisie club where he is hoping to establish himself as a first-team player immediately.

The 22-year-old agreed to terms with PEC Zwolle on Thursday but had to wait until Friday afternoon to finalise his move because of a disagreement over the transfer fee between the clubs.