The Wellington Phoenix have jumped at the opportunity to add another proven winner to the men\u2019s squad on the eve of the 2024-25 Isuzu UTE A-League.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Phoenix have signed Australian forward Stefan Colakovski on a one-year deal 10 days out from their season opener against Western United at Sky Stadium.
Colakovski, 24, was a key member of the Melbourne City side that won the A-League championship in 2021 and he also won two premierships with City before spending the past two seasons at Perth Glory.
He is the third A-League champion in the Phoenix squad alongside multiple winners Kosta Barbarouses and Paulo Retre.
Head coach Giancarlo Italiano moved quickly to sign Colakovski after an opportunity for him in Europe didn\u2019t come to fruition.
\u201cIt was good timing for us that Cola came back on to the market,\u201d Italiano said. \u201cWe\u2019ve always liked him and thought he\u2019d be a good addition to the squad, so we\u2019re happy we could make it work.
\u201cCola can do things that a lot of players can\u2019t. He\u2019s very effective, makes very good forward runs and gets in dangerous positions.
\u201cOur job as a coaching staff is to refine his skillset, and we think we can get more out of him as well.
\u201cWe\u2019re really looking forward to him showing us what he\u2019s got.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n