Wellington Phoenix have secured the return of one of their favourite sons – Kosta Barbarouses.
Barbarouses re-joins the Phoenix on a two-year contract for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 Isuzu UTE A-League seasons following his Sydney FC exit.
It will be Barbarouses’ third stint at his hometown club, having returned to Wellington in 2016 after starting his career at the Phoenix in 2007.
The 32-year-old has won four A-League Men Championships during his time in the league with Brisbane Roar, Melbourne Victory and Sydney.
Now, the New Zealand international is eyeing silverware in Wellington.
“That’s a big career-long dream of mine,” Barbarouses, who also spent time time abroad with Alania Vladikavkaz in Russia and Greek giants Panathinaikos, said. “I’d love to do it.
“We came close when I was a kid the first time around but, given I didn’t play too much, I didn’t feel too much a part of that. I’d love to be as involved as I will be over the next couple of years and bring a title home.
“We’ve got a great chance and I think the boys have grown a lot over the last couple of years. What they’ve sacrificed and been through I think it’s going to hold us in good stead.
“I’ve got no doubt we’re going to work hard to achieve that and if we can do it, I will be fulfilled career-wise.”
Barbarouses added: “I’m really excited about getting the chance to work with Uffy (head coach Ufuk Talay), who has done a tremendous job with the Phoenix squad the last few years.
“And I’m looking forward to working with a good mix of Kiwi boys; a lot of great young players coming through, and a few of the older boys who have really established themselves over the last couple of years.
“I’ve also had two young kids in that time and my family has only met my oldest daughter once, just before lockdown, so to be able to spend that quality time with them over the next couple of years was a big factor as well.”
Barbarouses scored one goal in 11 ALM appearances last season, while he managed 18 goals in total during his time with Sydney, dating back to 2019.
He is Wellington’s second signing of the off-season, following Steven Ugarkovic’s arrival from Western Sydney Wanderers.
Wellington head coach Ufuk Talay said: “Kosta is another experienced player that we’re adding to the team, which is very important for us. It’s something we’ve lacked.
“It’s very important to have players that have experience winning titles, lived it, and know what it takes to get to that point.
“I think he’ll be very valuable in that sense for our younger players.
“He’s done that despite playing most of his career as a winger. Hopefully he can bring that to us and continue his scoring run.
“He’s got speed, flair and goalscoring attributes which will hopefully help the team as well.”
Barbarouses is the only player in A-League Men history to win three Championships with three different clubs.
He tops the list of players, who played at least one game in a championship season, with two titles for multiple ALM teams:
Luke Brattan, Mitchell Austin, Andrew Nabbout, Sebastian Ryall, Bernie Ibini, Matthew Jurman, Besart Berisha, Mark Milligan, Mark Bridge, Connor Pain, Anthony Caceres, Christian Theoharous, Kofi Danning, Jai Ingham, James Donachie, Matthew Acton, Tarek Elrich, Steven Lustica, Nick Fitzgerald, Stuart Musialik, Eugene Galekovic, Jade North, Scott Galloway, Andrew Redmayne, Ben Garuccio, Michael Theo, Daniel Georgievski, Marco Tilio, Troy Hearfield and Ben Warland.
