There has been a lot of rumour and conjecture about a certain star striker joining Melbourne Victory, but it is easy to forget that the club have already pulled off a major recruiting coup up front ahead of next season.
There has been a lot of rumour and conjecture about a certain star striker joining Melbourne Victory, but it is easy to forget that the club have already pulled off a major recruiting coup up front ahead of next season.
Jean Carlos Solorzano was one of the surprise performers of last season, netting 11 goals in Brisbane’s championship-winning campaign.
Given Victory’s previous success with Costa Rican players and Solorzano’s prolific return from limited chances at the Roar, it was hardly surprising that Melbourne came knocking when the 23-year-old became available.
Victory have a bevy of quality attacking players, including Archie Thompson and Danny Allsopp, but one thing they have probably missed in recent times is an out-and-out striker. Solorzano fits the bill. He is a quality opportunist and a superb finisher.
If you look back at the 11 goals he scored in 2010-11, there won’t be many which make the highlight reel. Unlike his compatriot Carlos Hernandez, he doesn’t curl in free kicks from 30m, or bombard keepers with long, swerving shots.
But when the ball falls to ground in the penalty box, Solorzano is always the first to react. He strikes quickly and decisively and adds a new dimension to a Victory attack which has also lost another youngster in Robbie Kruse.
Solorzano is not a like-for-like replacement for Kruse, but Victory have already secured a couple of players who can step into the void left by the Socceroo’s departure to Germany.
We have already seen what Isaka Cernak can do in a wide attacking role. He performed well in the AFC Champions League and adds some real pace and industry to the attacking midfield area.
The other recruit looms as an even more exciting prospect. Anyone who watched Wellington Phoenix last year, or caught some of the All Whites’ work in their recent friendly against Australia will be happy to recommend Marco Rojas as a future star of the game. He’s super quick, super skilful and only 19. He has inherited Kruse’s number.
Given the development other young players have taken at Melbourne on recent teams, it is little wonder that burgeoning talents like Rojas, Solorzano and Cernak and even keeper Tando Velaphi have chosen Melbourne as the place they see as the best place to develop their talents.
There is a real sense of a fresh breeze blowing through the place at the moment and these new additions loom as key to the Victory re-establishing themselves as the competition’s benchmark in season 2011-12.
