Wellington Phoenix head coach Giancarlo Italiano has confirmed the club are set to reveal a centre-back as their fifth and final visa signing for the Isuzu UTE A-League 2025-26 season.
Speaking prior to the Phoenix’s flight to Melbourne for their Hahn Australia Cup quarter-final clash with NPL Victoria outfit Heidelberg United on Tuesday night, Italiano confirmed an announcement was imminent.
“We’re going to sign a visa centre-back in the next day,” Italiano said.
“It’s already done. It’s just a matter of formalities, and that’s all I’ll give you on that. And then we’re looking to expand the squad with another left-sided player and potentially another attacker as well.”
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Wellington’s incoming centre-back will fill the fifth and final slot reserved in Wellington’s squad for overseas players; new signing Ifeanyi Eze, goalkeeper Joshua Oluwayemi and Japanese duo Kazuki Nagasawa and Hideki Ishige occupy the club’s other four visa slots.
Nigerian striker Eze made his club debut in Wellington’s Australia Cup Round-of-16 win over NPL Victoria 3 side Nunawading City FC on August 10, coming off the bench for a 20-minute cameo in a contest settled by fellow visa player Ishige’s 94th-minute match-winner.
Ishige’s goal was assisted by Australian winger Carlo Armiento – one of Itlaiano’s three off-season recruits to date alongside Eze and Nikola Mileusnic.
Tuesday’s clash with Heidelberg comes too soon for Mileusnic, says Italiano, following his arrival from Perth Glory.
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But in the case of both Armiento and Eze, Italiano expressed his delight at seeing both players debut in the Australia Cup Round of 16 – despite having to go against the will of his medical staff to hand Eze his first minutes as a Phoenix player.
“Yeah, I went against the health gurus, the health bosses in the team,” Italiano confessed.
“He was supposed to be rested for the last game, but I kind of pushed him in a little bit.
“He finished his pre-season three weeks ago in Iraq, and I took a calculated risk that he could play some time. I just wanted him to be part of the group.
“The way the game went and his enthusiasm, wanting to come on, he was asking to come on. I just thought we’d give him about 15- 20 minutes, and he was good for that.”
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“Carlo’s great,” he added. “He’s one that I need to be a little bit slower with integration, and we’re just building up for his new role. And yeah, it’s going to take time with all the boys, but it’s going in the right direction.”
Wellington will face Heidelberg at Olympic Village on Tuesday night for a place in the Australia Cup semi-finals. Coached by former Western United assistant John Anastasiadis, Heidelberg are second on the NPL Victoria table and come into the quarter-finals riding a wave of momentum having defeated Isuzu UTE A-League club Western Sydney Wanderers 3-0 in the Round of 16.
“I think structurally, they’re very good,” Italiano said.
“(They play) a 4-2-4, the two sixes cover the half space ball defensively, they counter attack quite well. They’ve lot of A-League experience. You know, I think Ben Collins (former Western United defender) is a really good player for them at the back, (Anthony) Lesiotis (ex Melbourne Victory, Melbourne City) controls the midfield quite well, and their front two… (Bul Juach), I remember him from his time in New South Wales as well, a dangerous player.
“A dangerous team, they’ve only lost three games in the NPL, they’re fighting on all fronts in the league, the cup and the Australia Cup as well. So we go into the game with the utmost respect.
“Wanderers last week for a large part, even though the score was 3-0, I thought they controlled a large part of the game and just couldn’t capitalise, but that’s because of Heidelberg’s discipline.
“We’re going to go there knowing that one (or) two goals might be the difference in the game. I don’t think they’ll give too much, and we won’t give anything up either.”
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