Brisbane Roar have landed a valuable addition to their squad less than a week out from their season opener with the club announcing the signing of former La Liga winger Manuel Jesus Arana Rodriguez on a one-year deal.
The 31-year-old will add a wealth of experience to the Roar squad having played three seasons in Spain’s top flight with Racing Santander while most recently playing in Spain’s second division with Mallorca, making 52 appearances and scoring 10 goals over the past two seasons.
Roar Head Coach John Aloisi is pleased to add a player of Arana’s calibre to the senior squad heading into the new season.
“Manuel is footballer with a great deal of experience playing at the top level who will suit the Brisbane Roar style of play,” he said.
“He is a winger with an eye for goal, very versatile and can play anywhere in the front three. It is important that we have competition for places and players that are going to push each other.
“Most importantly he is a great person who I believe will definitely fit into our club culture.”
Arana, as he is commonly known, is excited to be in Brisbane and looking forward to getting to know his new teammates on the training park ahead of the club’s Hyundai A-League season opener against Melbourne Victory on Friday, October 7. Tickets for the clash are available HERE.
“I am very happy and honoured to have joined such a successful club,” he said.
“I am very excited to be in Brisbane and can’t wait to get on the field and wear the Orange jersey for the first time.”
Brisbane’s new Visa player has been in contact with Western Sydney Wanderers midfielder and former teammate Dimas Delgado, gathering as much information as possible on the Hyundai A-League and Australia in general.
“My former teammate Dimas has been telling me about the style of football here in Australia,” Arana said.
“I know that the A-League is a high quality, fast and physical footballing league that I believe will suit my style of play.”
Roar’s new right-footed winger is comfortable playing on the left or right side of the field, adding to an incredible array of attacking prowess in the Roar squad.
His addition will give Head Coach John Aloisi even more options in the final third for the upcoming Hyundai A-League season as well as the Roar’s 2017 AFC Champions League (ACL) Campaign. Qualification for the ACL begins in February 2017.
