Wellington Phoenix have bolstered their push for A-League Men silverware with the signing of versatile Japanese forward Hideki Ishige.
Ishige joins the New Zealand-based club on a two-year deal after three seasons with top-flight Japanese club Gamba Osaka.
He has played almost 300 matches in the J1 League for Gamba and Shimizu S-Pulse, and was crowned the AFC men's youth player of the year in 2011.
It will be the first time the former Japanese youth international will play outside of Asia in his career, with Phoenix coach Giancarlo Italiano confident the 29-year-old is still in his prime.
"Hideki was a little bit unlucky with injuries a couple of years ago that halted his career, but I think if we get his confidence up he's going to be a great player in the A-League," Italiano said in a club statement.
"The way that we're evolving the team, my preference is for technically good players and players with speed, and Hideki fits that mould.
"He can play as a 10, he can play as an inverted winger, he can play as a nine, he can play as a second striker, he can play in the midfield, and he's also played as an inverted fullback when he was at S-Pulse.
"Hideki's versatility and the fact that he can play anywhere makes it easier for me in terms of coaching because I can be a little bit more flexible tactically and put him in areas I know he won't be uncomfortable.
"He's also got a knack for scoring goals from distance and he's a very crafty player around the box, which is very, very important for me."
The versatile forward is the club's second signing from Japan, with midfielder Kazuki Nagasawa joining earlier in the week.
"I want to say thank you to everyone at Wellington Phoenix for accepting me," Ishige said.
"From now on I will devote everything I have to the team and do my best so that we can win the championship."
