Spiranovic, 22, had been on loan at Urawa for the 2010 J.League season from Bundesliga outfit FC Nurnberg, but confirmed to au.fourfourtwo.com he had signed a new 12-month deal with the Red Diamonds on Thursday.

"I was on loan from Nurnberg for 12 months and they (Urawa) had the option to buy so they took that up and now I've renewed that for another year," he said.

The deal secures Spiranovic's future in Saitama until the end of the 2011 J.League season and the Aussie said he's rapt to be staying in Japan.

"I had six months left if I decided to go back to Germany and coming here I felt very welcomed and I'd settled in pretty quickly," he said.

"It's a big club and very professional. Having played a season here in Japan, I didn't think twice about staying on."

The Geelong-born central defender added he felt the switch to Japan had developed his game.

"In the last 12 months I feel like I've progressed as a player and improved," he said.

"I enjoyed the change. I'd spent three years in Germany, so coming into a new league was a refreshing change.

"I've just enjoyed playing to be honest, which was one of the main reasons why I signed on.

"Most importantly it was about football. I felt here there was a good chance to play and I think here the league is at a good level. That'll keep me in good stead for the national team.

"Urawa were happy with me, they see the talent and the potential and they showed the confidence in allowing me to take up that option."

The 2010 J.League season may have come to a close but Spiranovic and Urawa are not finished for the year just yet, with an Emperor's Cup quarter-final at Gamba Osaka to come in a fortnight.

Spiranovic was part of Urawa's matchday squad for their final clash of the J.League against Vissel Kobe after a hamstring injury kept him out for two months and now he's set his sights on a return in the cup.

The winner of the Emperor's Cup qualifies for the AFC Champions League and Spiranovic said that was great motivation for the Reds, Japan's best supported club, who finished this J.League season down in tenth.

"We've still got a cup game at the end of the month," he said. "We're three games away from being in Champions League.

"We would've liked to have done better in the season but we're still in there with a chance to turn things around, so to speak."

And if Urawa were to win the Emperor's Cup and qualify for the AFC Champions League they would be placed in Sydney FC's Group H which Spiranovic admitted would be an exciting prospect.

"That'd be interesting. I didn't play in the A-League so to play an official club game in Australia that'd be exciting."

Spiranovic's Urawa travel to Gamba Osaka in the Emperor's Cup on December 25.