Who is the Isuzu UTE A-League signing of the season?
That is the question set to be answered via aleagues.com.au’s eToro Transfer Power Rankings, in 2023-24, ranking the best performers of all the off-season signings every month.
Each player’s place in the eToro Transfer Power Rankings is based off their Opta Index score for the month in question – and the rankings will shift month to month based on performance until we can crown the signing of the season.
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What is the Opta Index?
Opta defines it as follows: The Player Index is based on totals in a variety of statistics for each player. The index score uses subcomponents (such as shooting, passing, defending), corresponding to different qualitative aspects of a player’s performance.
These component scores are combined to create an overall rating for each player. The formula that works out the overall match rating have been developed by Opta’s own team of data scientists in conjunction with our award-winning Data Editorial team.
Read on for the top 10 signings in the eToro Transfer Power Rankings after five rounds of the Isuzu UTE A-League season.
eToro Transfer Power Rankings – Top 10
10. Jing Reec
- Opta index: 69.45
- Transfer: AGF Aarhus -> Central Coast Mariners
Arriving back on the Central Coast after an injury-interrupted season at Danish club AGF Aarhus, Jing Reec is finally back on the pitch and scoring goals for the Mariners.
Reec has earned high praise from Mariners Football Manager Mark Jackson for his work ethic and ability shown in training through the first four rounds of the season; in Round 5 he was given his first minutes of the campaign and rewarded Jackson for his faith with a sealing goal in the F3 Derby.
9. Steven Ugarkovic
- Opta index: 70.5
- Transfer: Wellington Phoenix -> Melbourne City
Another City recruit who has settled in brilliantly to life at the Premiers is Steven Ugarkovic, who joined the club from Wellington Phoenix and has started all of his new club’s five A-League Men fixtures, scoring one long-range goal in a 2-0 win over Sydney FC.
8. Tolgay Arslan
- Opta index: 70.7
- Transfer: Udinese -> Melbourne City
An off-season arrival with an impeccable footballing resume, Tolgay Arslan is Melbourne City’s classy creator whose injury-impacted start to the season has shown its flashes of brilliance.
Arslan arrived from Serie A outfit Udinese and has a goal and an assist to his name after four appearances.
7. Aleksandar Šušnjar
- Opta index: 70.9
- Transfer: Macarthur FC -> Perth Glory
Socceroos defender Aleksandar Šuśnjar headed West in the off-season after three seasons at Macarthur FC, and has since firmly established himself as a mainstay in Perth Glory’s starting lineup under Alen Stajcic.
Šuśnjar scored the first goal of his Glory stay in a 2-1 defeat to Brisbane Roar in Round 5.
6. Jack Clisby
- Opta index: 71.1
- Transfer: Perth Glory -> Western Sydney Wanderers
Jack Clisby is back in Red & Black for the second time in his career, and the full-back is well and truly thriving under Rudan at the table-toppers.
Clisby has made the left side of Western Sydney’s defence his own, contributing to four clean sheets and scoring a goal of his own.
5. Aziz Behich
- Opta index: 73.2
- Transfer: Dundee United -> Melbourne City
Socceroos left-back Aziz Behich returned to Melbourne City in the off-season; the last time he played for the formerly-named Melbourne Heart was in 2013-14.
Behich has started all of City’s five league games to start the campaign, in what has been a testing start to the new season for the reigning Premiers who sit ninth after five rounds.
4. Florin Berenguer
- Opta index: 75.6
- Transfer: Melbourne City -> Brisbane Roar
After an injury-riddled season at Melbourne City, Florin Berenguer has quickly settled into life in Queensland and has proved pivotal to Brisbane Roar’s much-improved form under new head coach Ross Aloisi this season.
Brisbane sit in fourth place heading into Round 6; Berenguer has started all five games, scoring two goals. The Frenchman started just seven games at City last season.
3. Lachlan Brook
- Opta index: 76.1
- Transfer: Brentford -> Western Sydney Wanderers
Back from England and thriving at the Wanderers, Lachlan Brook has two goals in four appearances as a bright contributor to his new side’s surge to the top of the table.
Brook scored a phenomenal long-range strike which highlighted a brace in a 5-0 drubbing of Western United in Round 2.
2. Apostolos Stamatelopoulos
- Opta index: 79.9
- Tranfer: PAS Giannina -> Newcastle Jets
Apostolos Stamatelopoulos is back in Newcastle for his second stint at the Jets, and it’s safe to say the lively forward is enjoying his return to the Hunter.
With four goals in five games, he’s already put together his best scoring season in the A-Leagues; his previous best was three, recorded in two of his four previous seasons across stints at the Jets, Western United and Adelaide.
1. Josh Brillante
- Opta index: 81.1
- Transfer: Melbourne Victory -> Western Sydney Wanderers
An off-season transfer from Victory to Western Sydney has led central midfielder Josh Brillante into a purple patch of form in Red & Black.
Brillante is forging a rock-solid partnership with fellow off-season recruit Jorrit Hendrix in the centre of the park for the Wanderers, helping Marko Rudan’s side keep four clean sheets in five games and surge to the top of the table.
Brillante has one goal and one assist to his name in five games.
