Former Olyroo Milislav Popovic is one of the highest rated young Australian strikers to emerge in the past five years, but now he's looking for a career kickstart.
For Australian football, so dearth of opportunities for youngsters that they have to go abroad, Macarthur are already beginning to pull their weight.
As is the way with so many young Australians who head abroad before making professional appearances domestically, despite huge promise, Popovic's career has stuttered in recent years.
The striker spent two years in Lazio's famed academy as a teenager, before moving to Germany and becoming a mainstay of Bundesliga club FC Cologne's reserve team.
Unsurprisingly Popovic was also a regular for the Olyroos, but perhaps unsurprisingly, first team club opportunities in Europe's strongest leagues were hard to come by.
As Popovic aged - now a spritely 23-years-old - a spell at Austrian club Lafnitz finally enticed him to return home.
“I have closely followed Milislav’s career over the last couple of years since he impressed me during the 2018 Asian Cup campaign," Macarthur coach Ante Milicic said
"In Milislav, the fans can expect a big, strong, technical player with the ability to create and score goals.
“Having returned to Australia, I am hoping we can provide him the opportunity to kick start his career and realise his full potential.” Milicic added.
Popovic originally hails from Sydney's Liverpool area, so he said the chance to join the A-League expansion club was a no-brainer.
“The opportunity to represent my local area on the national stage is a great honour for me. I know my family and friends will be supporting us at every match at Campbelltown Stadium.
“Having played under Ante previously with the Olyroos, I know he will have a very clear style of how he would like the team to play, and to be under his guidance again is something I’m really looking forward to.” Popovic said.
“Growing up in Liverpool, I know we have extremely passionate football fans in the area and I’m looking forward to seeing them all come together to support the new club.”
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