Adelaide United FC has filled its player roster for Season 8 following confirmation that Fabio Ferreira has penned a one year deal.
Adelaide United FC has filled its player roster for Season 8 of the Hyundai A-League following confirmation that Portuguese forward Fabio Ferreira has penned a one year deal with the club.
A product of English Premier League giants Chelsea-s youth setup, Ferreira had been residing in Sydney since the start of this year and playing with NSW club Dulwich.
United Coach John Kosmina invited Ferreira out to trial with the Reds over a month ago and became convinced that the 23 year old possesses the quality to make an impression in the Hyundai A-League.
Coming to Australia to reinvigorate a career that had appeared to stagnate after stints in Portugal-s second division, Ferreira now finds himself back in the professional ranks with Adelaide United and has a chance to prove why he was touted as a player with huge talent and potential in his teenage years.
In his time at Chelsea, Ferreira represented Portugal twice at Under 19 level before he was loaned out to fellow English club Oldham Athletic after struggling to crack into Chelsea-s first team.
Much of the hype may surround United-s other new foreigners Marcelo Carrusca and Jeronimo Morales Neumann, but Kosmina believes Ferreira will also be one to watch.
“He (Ferreira) is quite happy and he-s another one that I think is going to be a real surprise packet,” Kosmina said.
“Everyone talks about Marcelo or Jeronimo or Dario (Vidosic) or Serge (van Dijk) or somebody else, but Fabio has got a really good pedigree – you don-t get signed to Chelsea for four years by Jose Mourinho unless you-ve got something about you, and he did enough to show that he has got what it takes and now it-s just a matter of getting back up to where he was.”
“He offers us a real point of difference in that he-s a natural wide player and we don-t have a lot of natural width…so someone who can play as a natural winger and is a good dribbler with pace, they-re hard to find these days, so I think Fabs is going to have a bit of fun as well.”
“We-ve got quality but this is a bit of extra quality.”
While he is not one of the Reds- three imports for the upcoming AFC Champions League Knockout Stage, Ferreira is ready to make the most of his opportunity when it arises.
“It-s a very good opportunity for me and I look forward to this season. I-ll just do my best and see how it goes,” Ferreira said.
“I came to Sydney to try and get my career on track again at a high level and now I-ve got my chance at Adelaide, I-ll try to do my best, that-s the first thing, and I hope the fans like what they see. I just want to do the best I can do.”
Ferreira-s signing means Adelaide United has reached its maximum of 23 players for the club-s 2012/13 Hyundai A-League campaign.
Fabio FERREIRA
Full Name Fábio Miguel Lourenço Ferreira
DOB 3 May 1989 (Barreiro, Portugal)
Age 23
Position Forward
Height 178cm
Club History
2012 Dulwich Hill FC (NSW)
2010-2011 Sertanense (Portugal)
2009-2010 Esmoriz (Portugal)
2009 Oldham Athletic (on loan – England)
2008-2009 Chelsea (England)
Representative Honours
Portugal U-19 (2 appearances in 2007)
Additional Information
Joined Sporting Club de Portugal-s youth system at the age of 14
