The Perth Glory have signed Socceroo and former Leeds player Jacob Burns to a three-year Hyundai A-League contract.
On a busy day for club announcements, the Western Australian club finally confirmed the 31-year-old fringe Australian representative would be playing in Glory colours this season.
This means Burns will be eligible to play for the Glory in high profile pre-season practice matches with English Premiership clubs Wolverhampton and Fulham, along with Robbie Fowler’s North Queensland Fury, matches which were all confirmed on Monday.
Glory coach Dave Mitchell said Burns, a former player of his at Sydney United and Parramatta Power in the old National Soccer League (NSL), will be a quality addition to the club’s midfield as it looks to make the new competition’s finals for the first time.
“I’ve known Jacob for many years and he’s a bit of a character but he’s a good player and I think it’s a great signing for the club,” Mitchell said.
“He’s a winner, first and foremost.”
“He’s very competitive and he gets forward, he gets in dangerous areas, creates goals and stops goals, he’s a box-to-box player and he’s on the fringes of the Socceroos.”
Despite Australian coach Pim Verbeek directing that Hyundai A-League players may be at a disadvantage when it came to Socceroos selection for next year’s World Cup, Mitchell doesn’t feel Burns will put his chances at any risk.
“I speak to Pim and they’re very fond of him,” Mitchell said.
“So he doesn’t think it’s a disadvantage for him coming back to the A-League because he’s a winner and he thinks coming back here will enhance his chances.”
After leaving Australia in 2000, Burns was a member of the Leeds squad that made the UEFA Champions League semi-final during the 2002-03 season.
After leaving Leeds, he went on to play at Barnsley until 2006 before having stints at Polish club Wisla Krakow (2006-2008) and Romanian outfit FC Unirea Urziceni (2008-09).
Burns last played for the Socceroos in the Australians’ valuable 1-0 victory over Uzbekistan in Tashkent last October, filling in as a last-minute replacement for Jason Culina, who will also return to Australia to play in the Hyundai A-League this season for Gold Coast United.
Mitchell said there would be further signings announced shortly, the club is expected to add former Blackburn and Derby defender Andy Todd to the roster in the next few weeks.
