Cahill took his Aussie goal count to 47 in 89 games after striking twice in the 5-1 FIFA World Cup qualifying win against Jordan and will be hoping to replicate his electric form in club competition.
The 36 year-old former Everton and New York Red Bills player made the switch from Shanghai Shenhua to Hangzhou Greentown in February and clocked 45 minutes as a second half substitute in his team’s 2-0 win over Shandong Luneng on Friday.
But Cahill has just five-months left to warrant a contract extension, or to ensure he can attract enough interest from elsewhere, and his immediate future remains unclear.
“Tim Cahill is just concentrating on playing as well he can for the next few months, and we will see what happens after that,” A source in China said.
“The club (Hangzhou Greentown) wanted to assess why he left Shanghai and to have a good look at him. So far he has done well and the club has six points from three games and who knows they might do a Leicester City this season.
“Tim’s ambition is to go to the next World Cup in Russia, but that’s over two years away. But he can do that.
“He’s physically top notch. He’s a Ferrari of a footballer.”
Cahill was initially recruited, in part, as cover for injured Brazilian striker Anselmo Ramon, who is expected to miss the start of the 2016 CSL campaign. He scored 12 goals in 25 appearances last season.
But, coach Hong Myung-bo, the South Korean legend who captained the Taeguk Warriors to fourth place at the 2002 World Cup, has been particularly impressed by the Socceroos attacker.
There is no doubt national coach Ange Postecoglou will be monitoring the situation with an eagle eye, keen to ensure that one of his most valuable commodities flourishes at club level as he continues to excel for his country.
Hangzho, also home to Socceroos defender Matthew Spiranovic, have finished no higher than 11th in the last four CSL seasons and have been unable to compete with some of the big spenders around them.
Spiranovic missed the qualifiers against Tajikistan and Jordan through injury but returned to the Green Giants team side for a full game against Shandong.
