Melbourne Victory boss Tony Popovic says that newly signed striker Fernando Romero represents the culmination of a year’s worth of scouting across South America and is excited about what the 22-year-old can bring to his side.
A former Paraguayan youth international and possessing experience in the Copa Libertadores, Romero sealed a move to Melbourne on the final day of the A-League Men transfer window, arriving on loan from Primera División side Cerro Porteño until the end of the season.
Reports have suggested that there is an option to buy attached to the end of the loan agreement but speaking to reporters on Friday, Popovic batted away questions about such a proviso.
In addition to already having Uruguyan-born Socceroo striker Bruno Fornaroli on the books, Victory has tapped into South America with varying degrees of success over the years, bringing the likes of Gui Finkler, Ricardinho, and Leandro Love to AAMI Park.
Fans of the four-time ALM champions, though, will no doubt hope that their new arrival’s tenure is more in line with the former than the latter.
“It’s a market that isn’t tapped into a lot in Australia. We’ve been looking for over a year in this market but you don’t always find the right player or the player isn’t available,” said Popovic.
“We feel [Romero is] an exciting player with a lot of potential. He’s very determined to succeed here. He wants a new challenge.
“He’s young but he’s played a lot of football in the top flight so he’s accustomed to pressure and expectation. He wants to bring what he’s learned and showcase that here in Australia.
“We’re open to both [Fornaroli and Romero playing in the same XI], we’re open to one playing. We’ve got to see what best suits the team and the profile that we have. We’re happy to have another addition in the front third.”
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Romero is expected to land in Melbourne in the coming days, joining fellow midseason additions Damien Da Silva, Connor Chapman, and Bruce Kamau.
That trio is already on the ground at AAMI Park, with the trio all in contention to make their Victory debuts away against the Newcastle Jets on Sunday afternoon.
“We are [happy]. It’s been a busy ten days or so,” said the Victory boss. “We’ve lost a lot of experienced players for different reasons in the last month or so.
“We needed to add to the squad, add quality to the squad, competition for the squad. We’re pleased with what we were able to do.”
Victory arguably saved their season – or at least earned a stay of execution – with what was ultimately a well-deserved 3-1 win over Wellington last week, bouncing back from falling into an early deficit thanks to goals from Bruno Fornaroli, Jake Brimmer, and Tomi Juric.
Though still bottom of the table heading into the round and with numerous questions still hanging over them, Popovic’s side remains just six points back of the finals places with three months of the season remaining and, remarkably given the calamities that have befallen them on and especially off the field this season, just ten points off second.
Now, they will look to keep the momentum going against the Jets, who they defeated 4-0 the last time the two met earlier this season.
Goalkeeper Paul Izzo has resumed one-on-one training with goalkeeper coach Peter Zois but won’t return from his thumb injury for that game, while Rai Marchan remains sidelined with a concussion.
“We showed good signs against Sydney, we improved again against Wellington and we have to improve again now,” Popovic detailed.
“If we don’t improve we won’t get the points in Newcastle. We have to play better. It’s away from home, a tough opponent. There’s a lot of movement, a lot of intensity, we’ve got to match that and do better, If we do better, we’ve got a good chance of continuing this run.
“In Newcastle, the conditions, the pitch, the travel, it’s never easy there. We had a tough game there last year, we scored in injury time.
“We expect another difficult encounter but I feel we go there in a better place than what we’ve been in recent months. We’ve got a chance.”
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Header Image Credit: Melbourne Victory
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