After watching his friend and Western United centre-back Leo Lacroix achieve success in the Isuzu UTE A-League, Tunisian winger Salim Khelifi has elected to venture Down Under, signing for Perth Glory on a one-year deal, subject to international clearance.
The 28-year-old joins Perth from Swiss Super League champions FC Zurich, bringing almost 200 games of experience accrued in the Swiss top flight, German Bundesliga 2 and UEFA Europa League to Ruben Zadkovich’s side.
The former Switzerland youth international declared to play for the Tunisian national team in 2019. It was at youth level in the Swiss national setup where Khelifi met Lacroix.
His gaze has been fixed on the A-League Men’s ever since the towering defender’s arrival at Western United last season.
“My thinking behind this move is that I had come to a point in my career where I needed a new challenge and a new adventure,” Khelifi said.
“The A-League is something that I was very interested in and I think that this move to Perth Glory will be good for my career.
“I want to start something new, win as many games as possible and help the club get back to where it belongs.
“Personally, my aim is to play as much as possible, score goals, deliver assists and help the team get stronger.
I have been following the A-League because my friend Leo Lacroix is at Western United; we played together in the Switzerland Under-21 team.
“I know that it is a very competitive league with a lot of technical and physical quality.
“I have only heard good things about Australia, I’m very excited to have signed for such a great club and I can’t wait to meet the team.”
Khelifi made his senior club debut for Lausanne-Spot in Switzerland, before joining German side Eintracht Braunschweig, where he scored 11 goals and notched 12 assists in 80 league games prior to signing for FC Zurich in 2018.
He played seven times for Zurich in the Europa League over the following four seasons, going out on loan back to Germany with Holstein Kiel in 2019. He made his debut for Tunisia in the same year, in a friendly against Mauritiana.
Glory boss Zadkovich is excited to see what the winger can bring to his squad this season.
“Salim is a very welcome addition to the squad,” he said.
“He will bring another attacking dimension to our structures, possesses very good close control and has the ability to take on his direct opponent and open up the game very quickly.
“His character references are very strong which is important to us and his experience in Europe will only benefit those younger players in our squad.
“We are really excited to have him joining our team.”
