Melbourne Victory's highly publicized search for an international Marquee Player has finally come to an end as defender Pablo Contreras has signed with the club on a one-year deal. The 35-year-old Chilean international has played 67 times for his country, including at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Contreras is most well known for his time spent in Spain and Greece with over 100 games at both Celta Vigo and PAOK, though he has played in France, Argentina, Portugal and of course his home country of Chile.
Pablo Contreras moves to A-League with Melbourne Victory
The Chilean international and well-traveled defender just turned 35.
Though names like Giorgios Karagounis, Fabrizio Miccoli, and more recently Willliam Gallas, were linked with the Victory, various circumstances kept the big name players from inking A-League deals. Now, less than three weeks from the start of the 2013/14 season, Ange Postecoglou has to work Contreras into his group with only one pre-season game left.
Said Postecoglou in a club press release:
“We are thrilled to welcome Pablo to Melbourne Victory and there’s great excitement around what he can bring to the club. Pablo is a high quality central defender who will be an important part of our journey towards an A-League Championship and hopefully our upcoming Asian Champions League campaign.”
Contreras is set to arrive in Melbourne on Monday and join his new teammates at training on Tuesday. His first opportunity to play with the Victory will be in Tasmania on September 29 in a friendly against Western Sydney Wanderers.
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