New A-League club Heart have signed Terra, 27, on a multi-year deal following coach van't Schip's recent scouting trip to South America.

And it was the Heart coach's reputation that was a major factor in the exciting former Fluminense, Ponte Preta, Goias and Nacional (Portugal) forward signing a long-term deal with the red and whites.

"Alex really hadn't entertained the idea of coming to Australia at all beforehand," explains Steve Panopoulos, owner and director of Stellar Brasil, a player-management company based in Rio (www.stellarbrasil.com).

"In January, I was very close to signing him [Terra] to Suwon Bluewings in Korea where I already have two players.

"The [Suwon] coach came here, and we had several meeting with him and at the last minute they went for another player.

"I then signed Alex to Rio Branco to play in the Paulista Championship really as a shop window for coaches to come and watch him in action.

"Then John came here."

Van't Schip's a former Dutch national team player and the 46-year-old spent four years as assistant national coach of Holland alongside the great Marco van Basten up until 2008.

This was followed by a spell as at Eredivisie power Ajax Amsterdam's assistant coach before his move to Australia.

"What really did it for him was the lifestyle in Australia, after speaking to friends that had been to Australia, they spoke really well of the country, the city of Melbourne was a huge factor, and the clincher was John van't Schip," added Panopoulos, a former South Melbourne NSL midfielder.

"His history in football is amazing, what he achieved as a player and his philsophy on football was what really convinced Alex.

"He is a fantastic down to earth guy given what he has achieved in football. On one of the days he was here, I took him to watch Flamengo versus Botafogo in my corporate box.

"And that day I also had two Inter Milan directors as guests there, and they immediately recognised him because of his four year stint at Genoa in Italy."

It's this cachet that opens doors, gives credibility to the A-League and underlines the reason why clubs like Heart and Sydney FC (with Czech coach Vitezslav Lavicka) should be applauded for their coaching appointments.

"This shows what the man's importance is in football today," added Panopoulos. "And for Melbourne Heart to have recruited him is unbelievable."