The 17-year-old flyer’s recent form has convinced the Phoenix boss to nab him on a three-year deal. The U-17 New Zealand captain made recent headlines by scoring a hat-trick against New Caledonia in the OFC U-17 Championship - Tahiti 2007 tournament.

Barbarouses is no stranger to being in the spotlight, having dominated age tournaments in New Zealand for a number of years. As an U-15 player he was named Player of the Tournament at New Zealand’s National Age-Grade Tournaments after scoring an impressive three hat-tricks.

Barbarouses currently stands at 178cms and says that his favourite player is Ronaldo and lists his favourite club as Liverpool.

FourFourTwo magazine listed his as one of the "Ten Best Players Outside The A-League" in the May 2007 issue.

Former All White coach Mick Waitt told us, "Physically he is well up to it... with his astonishing pace and broad strength - he looks and is an athlete."