Oriol Riera has joined Western Sydney Wanderers as a marquee player for the next two seasons.

The 31-year-old Catalan striker is a former team-mate of Lionel Messi, having come through the famous Barcelona youth academy La Masia.

Riera has signed from La Liga side Deportivo de La Coruna, although he spent last season on loan at Osasuna – netting four goals including one against mighty Real Madrid.

Wanderers CEO John Tsatsimis believes the arrival of the forward will give the whole squad a lift ahead of the A-League campaign.

“We are very excited to have a player of Oriol’s calibre join us for the next two seasons,” Tsatsimas said.

“Oriol has an exceptional pedigree and will no doubt enhance our playing strength and provides us with a great platform to be serious contenders at the business end of the season.”

Riera also has experience of playing outside of Spain already, having featured for Wigan Athletic for one season in 2014/15.

He will join up with his new Wanderers team-mates for pre-season training early next week and could make an appearance in the high-profile friendly against Arsenal on July 15.