New Zealand's A-League Men clubs are finalising their squads this week by signing pacy wingers.
Auckland FC expect to clear visa hurdles to sign Colombian winger Neyder Moreno, while Wellington Phoenix have added former A-League winner Stefan Colakovski.
Steve Corica has assembled a star-studded squad for the league's newest team ahead of their round-one debut with Brisbane Roar on Oct. 19. Backed by American billionaire Bill Foley, the Black Knights look set to make a splash in their inaugural campaign.
Former Sydney FC coach Corica has 11 current or past New Zealand internationals at his disposal, as well as three Australians who have all won silverware. Moreno will complete the puzzle, joining after leaving Colombian Primera A side Atlético Nacional to fill Auckland's fifth and final visa position.
"We have signed him. Just waiting on the visa to get done, I think he should be out here in three or four days," Corica confirmed to AAP.
Described by his new coach as a pacy winger and goal-scorer, Moreno is the third South American to join Auckland. When he is cleared, he will join Chilean Luis Felipe Gallegos and Uruguayan striker Guillermo May. Gallegos, 32, is a box-to-box midfielder who last played for Crete-based Greek Super League club OFI, and was targeted for his history.
"Because we've got a quite a young squad, the foreigners that we brought in, we wanted to be a little bit more experienced," Corica said.
There are high hopes that May can emulate one of the A-League's best-ever imports, countryman Bruno Fornaroli, who also arrived in the league in his mid-20s.
"He's that kind of build as well," Corica said of the inevitable Fornaroli comparison. "He's gets stuck in and works hard for the team as well ... we're hoping that he's gonna score a lot of goals for us.
"He was playing in Argentina [which is] good experience playing in a league like that, in the top division."
The Latin flair and well-credentialed locals combine to be one of the most valuable squads in the competition, according to go-to website Transfermarkt. Moreno's addition bumps the Black Knights to a combined value of $14.2 million, behind only Corica's old club, Sydney FC.
"We're not here to just make up numbers. No. The owner's very ambitious," Corica said of Foley. "He wants to win ... so that's our briefing, to try and win a trophy and be the first New Zealand club to do that."
That statement is a cheeky dig at Wellington's 17-season stay in the league without a trophy, though the Nix impressed to finish second last season, missing the Grand Final with an extra-time semifinal loss to Melbourne Victory.
Coach Giancarlo Italiano said new signing Colakovski's experience winning silverware at Melbourne City and Perth Glory would be as useful as his speed and goals.
"Cola can do things that a lot of players can't. He's very effective, makes very good forward runs and gets in dangerous positions ... and we think we can get more out of him as well," he said.
Colakovski's signing offsets some of the disappointment around returning forward Marco Rojas, who has fractured his leg.
"It's not severe ... it's more about management and just getting the recovery time for it to heal," Italiano told NZ media outlet Stuff last week.