"Cassio will probably get the nickname of Roberto Carlos," Valkanis told au.fourfourtwo.com.

"He's the same height and he's excellent in an attacking sense and defensively, he's fantastic.

"I'm a left-side stopper and having him beside me is great. He's an outlet for me attacking wise and defensively, he never really gets beaten.

"Even though he's not the tallest guy around, I don't think he's lost a header.”

The much-travelled Cassio, 27, arrived at Hindmarsh from Santa Cruz in Brazil in the off-season.

The Rio-born pocket rocket has previously played in the US, Paraguay and Mexico. He made an immediate impact with the Reds in the pre-season cup.

"In his armoury is his shooting ability," said Valkanis. "He's scored something like four goals in the pre-season and they've all been long distance strikes; either from a set piece or from open play.

“So I think Cassio's actually going to be one of those players people will be really talking about in the A-League.

"Cassio reminds of when Fred came along for Victory. He arrived and he wasn't a big name like a Juninho or a Jardel, but look what he did. He slipped under the radar and became a huge star in the league.

“I think it's sort of thing we can expect from Cassio."

Valkanis, who turns 33 tomorrow (Thursday) said the signing of Cassio and other off-season acquisitions such as Paul Agostino, Kristian Sarkies and Jonas Salley will help the club reach its ultimate goal.

He added: "We've achieved everything now - grand finals in the pre-season cup, finals series, Asia, everything except the big one.

"It's that last piece of the puzzle... the grand final."