Melbourne Victory has today bolstered its midfield with the signing of experienced Albanian international Migjen Basha on a two-year deal.
Basha, who has 33 caps for his country, joins the club after spending last season with Greek outfit, Aris Thessaloniki.
His signing completes Victory’s international allocation for the 2019/20 season.
Head Coach Marco Kurz was delighted to welcome another experienced player in Basha, noting the squad was almost now complete.
“I’m very pleased to add another international with such experience to our squad,” Kurz said.
“Given he has played at the highest level domestically I believe he will be a strong leader amongst the group.
“With midfielders Jakob (Poulsen) and Kristijan (Dobras) having also arrived, we’re really pleased with the talent we’ve managed to add ahead of round one.”
Born in Switzerland, Basha started his professional career with hometown club Lausanne before moving to Italian side Lucchese during 2005-06.
After a spell with Viareggio, he played for Rimini, Frosinone and Atalanta, making 23 appearances as the latter won Serie B in 2010-11.
Sent on loan to Torino, Basha helped them earn promotion from Serie B the following season, later making that switch permanent.
He spent four seasons at the club before returning to Switzerland with Luzern, only to make the move back to Italy with stints at Como and Bari prior to joining Aris ahead of the 2018-19 season.
Basha most recently played for Albania during Euro 2020 qualifying in June, having made his international debut in 2013.
He will join the squad next week and begin training pending a medical clearance.
Current Melbourne Victory squad:
Matthew ACTON, Kenjok ATHIU, Jay BARNETT, Migjen BASHA, Corey BROWN, Leigh BROXHAM, Benjamin CARRIGAN, Thomas DENG, Kristijan DOBRAS, James DONACHIE, Tim HOOGLAND, Josh HOPE, Elvis KAMSOBA, Birkan KIRDAR, Robbie KRUSE, Brandon LAUTON, Anthony LESIOTIS, Andrew NABBOUT, Jakob POULSEN, Storm ROUX, Matthew SUTTON, Lawrence THOMAS, Ola TOIVONEN, Adama TRAORE.
