Wellington Phoenix have signed “promising” goalkeeper Dublin Boon to his first professional contract, the Isuzu UTE A-League semi-finalists announced.
The 19-year-old has penned a one-year scholarship deal after spending last season at Roda JC in the Eerste Divisie – the second tier of Dutch football.
Boon, who played his junior football at Nomads United and Christchurch United before graduating to the Nomads first team, will add competition to Wellington’s goalkeeping stocks which includes former Tottenham shot-stopper Josh Oluwayemi and Alby Kelly-Heald.
His arrival comes after Wellington’s signing of AFC Champions League winner and one-time Japan international Kazuki Nagasawa.
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“It’s my first professional contract, so I’m pretty happy,” Boon said. “I came back to New Zealand a month or two ago after the Phoenix contacted me, and then they offered me a contract.
“I’m looking forward to working with the boys for the season, and I think I can learn a lot here.
“We obviously had a very good season last year, making the semi-finals, so hopefully we can do that again.”
The emergence of Alex Paulsen – who has since signed for Premier League side Bournemouth before being loaned to incoming A-Leagues club Auckland FC – last season highlighted how head coach Giancarlo Italiano wants his team to play out from the back, starting with a ball-playing goalkeeper.
“I think I can play that type of football quite well. It’s a part of my game that I’m used to,” said Boon. “Ultimately, I just want to learn as much as I can and develop to see where I go.
“We’ll see what happens over the year. I believe if I keep consistent, keep disciplined, I can show myself as best as I can.”
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Asked about his Dutch spell, Boon added: “I did a football camp in 2022 in Melbourne. Through that there were some international scouts and coaches from clubs like Dutch champions PSV and OH Leuven in Belgium.
“They showed some interest so I decided to head over at the beginning of 2023 to do some trials.
“I joined Roda JC, and I was playing with their U21s and training with the first team. They were really welcoming and it was good to learn more. I enjoyed it a lot over there.”
Boon is the sixth new face at the Phoenix, after Marco Rojas, Paulo Retre, Luke Brooke-Smith, Oluwayemi and Nagasawa.
“Dubs is a good young keeper with plenty of potential,” Italiano said. “We need him in the environment to see how he develops, but it’s promising.
“He’s a good kid, well-mannered, and takes on board a lot of the ideas from the games we’ve played so far.
“He’s developed game-to-game. I think he’ll be healthy competition for Alby and Josh.”
Featured image: Wellington Phoenix
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