Chairman of South’s A-League bid board Bill Papastergiadis is confident the Victorian NPL side will be ready to hit the ground running once Football Federation gives the greenlight.

Current coach Chris Taylor will continue to be involved with the self proclaimed "rich club" as the former NSL greats look to reassert themselves as domestic heavyweights.

In his first visit to Melbourne, Carlos announced he wants to bring his family here to start a life in Australia and to work with South as an A-League club.

“My idea would be to come here and keep winning and continue that mentality and keep winning things," Carlos said at Lakeside Stadium on Monday. "If I go to a club and marry a project, I go to win.

“South Melbourne should be the reference for Australian football. They’re already good. I’ve been following the team. The importance is to go up.

“What I’ve seen here has moved me, the complex and the people.The most important thing now is for the club to go to the A-League and that together we make more history on top of what we’ve seen."

Carlos' fledgling managerial career has included stints in Russia,Turkey and most recently India with Super League outfit, Delhi Dynamos.

And while the FFA has postponed expansion until 2018/19 season, the Brazilian is already planning ahead.

“What I’ve seen here has gratified me a lot," he said.

"When you have the idea of winning to form champions, to try and sign up the best players you can, when I’ve noticed the club is very ambitious and has the winning mentality, and that’s satisfied me.”

Carlos has won three UEFA Champions League titles, a World Cup with Brazil in 2002 and played with some of the greatest names in world football.

He is confident he can bring those big names to Australia but also feels youth development is important for the club’s philosophy. And he has urged the FFA to expand the A-League ASAP.

“The more teams the better, the more players coming up from the youth systems the better,” he said. “The most important thing is having a good youth development system, with quality.

“Clubs can get the best players and sign up the best players but the biggest teams bring up the kids… you have to think of the strategy.

“When you talk about South Melbourne, you know where it comes from. Many famous people came through this club and it’s an important club in world football.My ex-teammates and friends will come marry the project with me. They’ll be close to us.”

Roberto Carlos at his first press conference in Melbourne on Monday

Papastergiadis was aware many would view this as a cynical publicity stunt for the ambitious club.But he said South was not prepared to sit on its hands and wanted to invest in the future.

“There’s been a lack of talent coming through into senior ranks in the A-League and then making their way into the Socceroos,” Papastergiadis said.

“We’ve indicated that needs to continue to evolve - football doesn’t remain static in this country. As part of evolving, we need to bring the best and the brightest beside us.

“As a result of our various announcements in the media, what we’ve been able to do is attract the best and the brightest to the club and that’s not just juniors, but coaches, football administration staff - it’s the whole kit and caboodle.

“The important part about expansion in football in this country and also setting up a B-League, is creating the opportunities for players, for coaches, for administration staff, raising the bar for everyone, and creating the opportunities for everyone.”