Heidelberg United have announced the signing of former Western Sydney Wanderers and Young Socceroos midfielder Alusine Fofanah.
The 19-year-old moves to Olympic Village having most recently played for the 2014 Asian Champions League winners for whom he made his senior debut aged just 16.
Born in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, Fofanah moved to Australia at an early age and began playing football after being inspired by the 2006 World Cup.
At the age of 14, he had a trail with English giants Manchester City, scoring six goals in two matches for the under 18 but was prevented from joining the Sky Blues due to visa constraints.
He returned home and featured for local club Bankstown Berries before joining the Western Sydney Wanderers Youth team under head coach Trevor Morgan.
His impressive performances in the National Youth League prompted Tony Popovic to hand the teenager his first-team debut in an A-League game against Adelaide United in January 2014.
He made a further four appearances for the Wanderers during their miserable 2014/15 A-League campaign although he did score from the spot in their penalty shootout defeat to African champions ES Setif of Algeria, having come on as a substitute.
He was released from the club’s senior squad mid-way through last year alongside fellow youngsters Daniel Alessi and Shayne D’Cunha and has been clubless since then.
Fofanah also made his debut for the Young Socceroos in 2015 and has to date made eight appearances for the nation’s Under 20 side, scoring three goals.
An attacking midfielder capable of playing out wide, he adds further depth to Heidelberg’s attacking stocks which already contains the likes of Kenny Athiu, Sean Ellis, Reuben Way and Adrian Zahra.
He is eligible to make his debut for George Katsakis’ men in this Sunday’s blockbuster match up against the table-topping Bentleigh Greens at Olympic Village.