Green Gully have finalised their squad for the upcoming season with the signings of former Melbourne Heart midfielder Kliment Taseski and Japanese left-back Yohei Iwasaki.
24 year-old Taseski returns home to Melbourne after spending the last six months of 2015 with Swedish second tier side FC Rosengård which was the first junior club of one Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The son of ex-NSL footballer Ilija Taseski, the attacking midfielder played his junior football with Noble Park and South Melbourne before graduating from the VIS in 2008.
He made his senior debut with Altona Magic the following year and capped off a fantastic debut season by winning the Jimmy Rooney Medal for a man-of-the-match performance in the Magic’s penalty shootout victory over Dandenong Thunder.
Taseski, who is also capable of playing at full-back then signed his first professional contract with Melbourne Heart ahead of their inaugural A-League campaign in 2010.
Two seasons with John van’t Schip’s side yielded a total of four senior appearances as Taseski and fellow Heart youngster Kamal Ibrahim spent 2011 on loan at South Melbourne, with both scoring on debut in a classic 6-4 victory over the Springvale White Eagles.
Upon his release from the red and whites in 2012, Taseski moved back to the VPL and featured for the Moreland Zebras under Joe Palatsides.
Despite making 12 appearances and scoring two goals for the club, the midfielder was unable to prevent the Epping Stadium-based side from relegation at season’s end.
He then joined Richmond in 2013 where he was reunited with former Zebras teammate and Coach Grant Brebner although a similar fate concurred as the side were relegated from the top flight at the conclusion of season.
Having impressed with four goals in 18 games for Richmond over the course of that season, Taseski then joined Hume City in 2014 and featured 19 times, scoring one goal for Louie Acevski’s men.
His move to Gully further bolsters the club’s midfield stocks as well as strengthening their full-back options which have been additional boosted by the signing of Iwasaki.
A graduate of the prestigious Chukyo University in Nagoya, the Japanese left-sided utility moved to Brazil in 2008 where he featured for several Parana based lower league outfits before playing Serie B (second tier) football with Parana Clube in 2010.
He returned to his homeland that year and signed for J-League outfit Albirex Niigata before spending some time playing regional league football in the Land of the Rising Sun with Ganju Iwate, where he scored six goals in seven starts.
A move back to South America followed as he joined Paraguayan outfit Independiente in 2012 before returning to Asia in 2013 and signing for Indian club Rangdajied United for whom he scored two goals in 18 appearances.
It was in the I-League where Iwasaki crossed paths with current Green Gully Manager Arthur Papas who was at the time Coach of Goa-based side Dempo.
Prior to his move to Australia, Iwasaki spent 2015 with FC Gifu in J-League 2 outfit FC Gifu where he was a teammate of former Japanese National Team goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi who was in goals for the Blue Samurai during their 2006 World Cup defeat to Australia.
Taseski and Iwasaki become the club’s eighth and ninth signings respectively following the additions of Nick Krousoratis (Port Melbourne Sharks), Tyler James, Ratip Cileli (both Melbourne City Youth), Anthony Ragusa (Werribee City), George Lambadaridis (Brisbane Roar), Luke Walker (Edgeworth) and Callum Richardson (Melbourne City).
The nine-time State Champions begin their 2016 NPL campaign with a Friday night away visit to the Melbourne Knights on February 19.
Feature image: Mark Avellino