Hume City have furthered bolstered their playing stocks ahead of the upcoming NPL season with the signature of Hernan Espindola from Melbourne City.
The 21-year-old moves to ABD Stadium after spending time with City this season as an injury-replacement player for the injured James Brown.
The Argentine-born winger was an AIS Graduate in 2011 who featured for the Joeys in the 2011 Under-17 World Cup under Jan Versleijen, as Australia were knocked out in the Round of 16 by Uzbekistan.
He spent the next two years of his development in the Melbourne Victory youth team, helping Darren Davies’ side win the 2012/13 NYL Championship alongside cousin and former Hume City and current Melbourne City Youth Team forward Christopher Cristaldo.
Espindola then got his first taste of senior football as he helped Pascoe Vale fight off relegation from the VPL by scoring once in 11 appearances for the newly promoted outfit.
A move to the youth ranks of Melbourne City followed ahead of the 2013/14 NYL season before spending time with the newly formed Goulburn Valley Suns in the inaugural NPL season.
After some impressive form for the City youth team in both the NYL and NPL under Joe Palatsides and Joe Montemurro respectively, Espindola was promoted into the senior side ahead of the current A-League campaign as attacking midfielder James Brown fell victim to a long-term injury.
He made his first competitive start for City in their 5-0 FFA Cup Quarter-Finals rout of Heidelberg United, before retaining his starting spot in their opening round 1-1 draw away to Sydney FC.
Espindola would make three further A-League appearances for John van’t Schip’s side before being released to pursue other opportunities upon James Brown’s return from injury and the signings of former Central Coast Mariners pair Anthony Caceres and Nick Fitzgerald.
He becomes the 10th new edition to Lou Acevski’s star-studded squad, following the arrivals of former Melbourne Heart full-back Jeremy Walker, attacker Kym Harris (Adelaide Blue Eagles), attacking midfielder Michael Trigger (Ballarat Red Devils), number nine Tom Cahill (Richmond), wide forward Daniel Visevic (Bentleigh Greens), winger Kofi Danning (Oakleigh Cannons) and veteran defender Ramazan Tavsancioglu (Dandenong Thunder) in addition to recent arrivals in goalkeeper Jordan Franken and Jordan Lampard from the Perth Glory and Brisbane Roar youth teams respectively.
The FFA Cup semi-finalists open their season with a home fixture on Saturday the 20th of February against the newly promoted Richmond.