The Brisbane-born midfielder has signed a season-long loan agreement that will see him join Mike Mulvey’s Mariners until at least the end of the A-League 2018/19 season.

O’Neill has featured on three occasions in the English Premier League for Burnley plus one appearance in the FA Cup and a start in the League Cup after signing his maiden professional contract with ‘The Clarets’ in 2016.

Most recently, the box-to-box midfielder has featured in pre-season hit outs with Burnley against the likes of Cork City, Shrewsbury Town, Montpelier and Espanyol before departing to Australia.

The Mariners’ newest recruit is looking forward to playing his part in the Central Coast Mariners’ season.

“After I heard Mike Mulvey and Nick Montgomery were interested I just couldn’t wait to get it all done and get stuck into pre-season,” O’Neill said.

“Obviously playing in the English Premier League is every boy’s dream but leading into it [my debut], I didn’t think about it too much to be honest. For my family and myself it was a very proud moment but that’s just the start and I’ve got my whole career ahead of me.

“I’m coming on loan and I want to earn experience. I want to be involved and help the team push forward, if that helps me when it comes to Burnley then great but at the end of the day I am here to help the Mariners win games.

“A long-term goal of mine is also to break into the Socceroos squad. Moving over here at a young age makes you grow up very quickly, you’re in a man’s world full of very good footballers and you either float or sink, so my time at Burnley so far has been fantastic."

Mike Mulvey thanked Burnley for the opportunity to expose O’Neill to the A-League and assist in his development as a young footballer.

“Aiden O’Neill is a very interesting player,” Mulvey said. “He didn’t play representative football in Brisbane, where he grew up, and was snapped up by Burnley FC after he had moved to England with his parents.

“Any player who trains regularly with an EPL club will have something about him and while Aiden is a young player he is a young player on a mission.

“I would like to thank Burnley Football Club and particularly the manager Sean Dyche for entrusting us with this next stage of Aiden’s development."