To see Mustafa training with the Mariners...

Amini's parents met in a refugee hostel in the 1980s with his father from Afghanistan and his mother from Nicaragua.

And the Aussie-born central midfielder can be a future starting XI playmaker at Bluetongue, says Lawie McKinna, who signed Amini on a first team contract late last year.

McKinna, now the club's football and commercial operations manager, didn't wait till the end of the season and moved swiftly to secure the talented midfielder's services by approaching him in November 2009 and signing him on a two-year senior contract.

"He's a typical number 10 who can play in behind the strikers.  He's creative and wants the ball all the time and is great on the ball," McKinna told au.FourFourTwo.com.

Amini will have competition in that playmaker role with head coach Graham Arnold already identifying one player for that position from his recent scouting trip to South America.

"He's not a big boy but Muzzy's very good on the ball. And I think for the first of the season [last season] he was outstanding," added McKinna of the U17 and U20 Australian international.  

"He's a wee happy boy with a bubbly personality too. And the coaches at the AIS gave him big raps, including Han Berger.

"We've got a few years to invest in him but hopefully when he's 18 or 19 he's a regular first team player."

The youngster appeared for the Come Play XI in last week's Kevin Muscat testimonial game at the same venue the Mariners will kick off their own season against Melbourne Heart.

"With Heart having Michael Beauchamp, Dean Heffernan, John Aloisi and their team manager Ben Coonan, it'll be like going to Gosford. Like Central Coast versus Central Coast," McKinna joked.

The Mariners will remain on a light training regime in May and will ramp that up in June with the club's new coaching staff.

The new dugout side features Phil Moss, John Crawley, Tony Walmsley and Andrew Clarke alongside Arnold and McKinna.

Alex Tobin, an assistant coach in recent seasons, is no longer with the club.

The club is also working on a trip to China in July to fine-tune preparations for the new season.

Before that, McKinna will fit in a trip to the World Cup in South Africa where he's promised to continue his popular Twitter account.

To see Mustafa training with the Mariners...