Victory fans were introduced to Fabiano, 29, during the club’s debut in Asia’s premier club competition and witnessed the experienced forward net two goals in as many matches against Victory.

“We played Chonburi in Bangkok in our second AFC Champions League match and Fabiano was a standout,” Victory Coach Ernie Merrick said.

“He caused lots of problems for our defence, scored the initial goal and then hit the post later on in the game.

“He really impressed us as a good competitor and he’s very skillful with an eye for goal.

“We followed up and our defence was impressed by him, particularly Kevin Muscat, who found him a handful.

“He’ll be a great addition to our strike force and adds the necessary depth to our team that we’ve lacked during the AFC Champions League.”

Fabiano spent the majority of his career in Brazil and Austria before joining Thailand Tobacco Monopoly FC last year and establishing himself as the Thailand Premier League’s top scorer with 18 goals, six ahead of his nearest rival.

The dynamic striker was transferred to Chonburi ahead of the 2008 season and scored three times in the club’s AFC Champions League matches, including one against Victory at Telstra Dome last Wednesday.

“We’ve been through quite a long negotiation with Chonburi, who have been absolutely fantastic in the process,” Victory Football Operations Manager Gary Cole said.

“Fabiano stayed over after Wednesday’s game to go through our normal screening processes and he’s come up very well.

“We’re excited about the fact that we can add another big, strong, high quality striker to our squad.

”It gives us a lot more depth and a lot more options and means we go into next season satisfied now with our strike force.”

Subject to visa approval, Fabiano will join Victory on July 1 and replace fellow Brazilian Leandro Love, who will return to Japanese side Vissel Kobe after completing his one-year loan deal, as the club’s fourth visa player.

Cole said Victory would look to foster their relationship with Chonburi, which won the Thailand Premier League last year and currently sits third on the 2008 ladder.

“We’ve had some good conversations with Thanasak Suraprasert, who is their General Manager, and he’s aware of how advanced, not just Melbourne Victory, but Australian sport is in terms of sports science and sports medicine.

“He’s asked in a couple of areas if we’re prepared to share information, which we certainly agreed to do and he’s also asked if they can send some of their staff over to look at what we do and how we go about doing it.

“One of the big pluses of playing in Asia is that we can form these relationships.

“We’ve got a good relationship with Chonburi and we also have a very good relationship with Gamba Osaka.”