Michael McGlinchey has revealed he was on the cusp of joining former All Whites coach Anthony Hudson at Colorado Rapids, but the deal fell through at the last minute.

The 31-year-old midfielder said he was close to securing a move to the Major League Soccer club, after Hudson threw him a lifeline when his contract with the Wellington Phoenix expired.

However, Colorado were unable to free up an international spot on their roster and therefore were unable to get the deal across the line before the transfer window closed.

McGlinchey has since joined the Central Coast Mariners.

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"I was really close to signing in Colorado with Anthony Hudson, which would have been fantastic. I had an offer from [Scottish Premiership club] Livingston, so I was sitting on two or three offers," McGlinchey said.

"I was always quite close with Anthony and he always said if he was going to move on that he would like to take me. But there was never an actual offer until I got back to Scotland and something genuine came up.

"But the way it worked with the foreign player cap, they couldn't get a foreign spot for me. It was about a day away from happening. But then this one [with the Mariners] came up so I thought it was a good time to come over."

Hudson signed three All Whites as soon as he joined the Rapids, with defenders Smith, Deklan Wynne and Kip Colvey following their former national team coach to Colorado. He also made an unsuccessful attempt to sign Phoenix striker Roy Krishna.

After four seasons with the Phoenix, McGlinchey officially became a free agent at the end of the 2017/18 A-League campaign and temporarily returned to Scotland with his family.

Despite weighing up the prospect of staying to play for Livingston, he decided a return to the Mariners, where he won the A-League in 2013, was the best move at this stage in his career.

​"I left Wellington and it was a bit up in the air. There was a bit of communication but there was nothing on the table. I had to go back to Scotland and plan my future," he said.

"I had a few offers from various different clubs but I never really heard anything from the Phoenix so I had to act on what was the best thing for my career, as you do when you are off-contract. As soon as the Central Coast thing came up I thought it was the right thing to do, to come back."

Although the Mariners have struggled his recent seasons, McGlinchey said he was happy to be back at the club where he enjoyed the most successful period of his career. He said the goal now was to help spark a revival.

"It's a bit like coming home in a way. It's been four or five years since I've been at the club but not too much has changed, they have the same sort of values. They want to get back to where they were before and although it's going to take a lot of hard work, we are going to try and get there."