Ottawa Fury FC has made its first big signing of the off-season.

With management determined to get better up front, the North American Soccer League club announced Thursday it had signed Brazilian winger Paulo Junior, a skilled 25-year-old with experience at both the MLS and NASL levels.

Assuming Ottawa re-signs midfielder/forward Oliver -- and that is almost a certainty -- Fury FC will head into this season with American striker Tommy Heinemann leading the attack between two skilled Brazilians on the wings.

Junior, who played last season in his native Brazil with Nautico, has appeared in 53 NASL games in two stints with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and has featured in 36 MLS contests with Real Salt Lake.

As per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In other news Thursday, the club loaned captain Richie Ryan to a Scottish side, and has dropped goalie Devala Gorrick.

With as many as eight new faces expected on the Fury roster in 2015, Junior's signing brings the number of Fury players currently under contract to seven, including goalkeeper Romuald Peiser, defenders Omar Jarun and Mason Trafford, midfielders Richie Ryan and Nicki Paterson and striker Heinemann. Other contracts are in various stages of completion.

In an interview with the Sun Wednesday, Fury coach Marc Dos Santos didn't mention Junior by name but spoke highly about the player before his signing was made official. Dos Santos said after cutting forward Pierre-Rudolph Mayard and with a young Carl Haworth still establishing himself, a player of Junior's calibre was key.

"We felt all year that we needed another winger," Dos Santos said. "We always felt that we needed another that was a difference maker and we've got one now."

It's no wonder Dos Santos went after this particular player. The 5-foot-6 native of Teresina, Piaui, Brazil began his NASL career with Miami FC (now the Striker) in 2009 and scored 11 goals through 2011, when he was loaned to MLS side Real Salt Lake. He signed with the club the following season, scoring twice in 22 appearances before being loaned back to the Strikers for three games. Junior was selected by the Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS Re-entry Draft but never signed, instead re-joining the Strikers for the 2013 fall season before going back to Brazil.

Ryan looks to be on his way out of town, but the affable Irishman won't be gone long.

After a report by a UK publication said Ryan was in talks to join Scottish League 1 club Peterhead on a short-term loan, Dos Santos confirmed the news Thursday.

"There's the possibility," said Dos Santos, who also confirmed the deal would ensure Ryan was back in Ottawa by the end of February for training camp.

The coach said it would be different if the NASL had a 10-month season, but with nearly five months off, the opportunity should keep Ryan fresh coming into camp.

"A player that can play 10, 11 months is much better than (someone who has been off)," Dos Santos said. "That competitive rhythm is very important.

"But we'll see, we're working on details."

The Press and Journal reported last week Ryan approached Peterhead about the possibility of training with the club after returning to Scotland -- where is partner, Nikki, is from -- and things moved from there.

"(Ryan) got in touch via a contact and I told him to join us," said Peterhead manager Jim McInally. "If we could get a short-term deal sorted out I would be very interested in seeing him in action."

SO LONG, GORRICK

Finally, the Fury will not re-sign former top goalkeeper Devala Gorrick. Gorrick started Fury's first-ever competitive match in Fort Lauderdale last year and played every match for the club in the spring season.

But it became a crowded group when the club signed French keeper Romuald Peiser as the club's new No. 1 and Gorrick was relegated to the backup spot.

Dos Santos said Gorrick has the "DNA" of a top keeper and hopes he finds such a job with a new club. But Fury is very comfortable with Peiser leading the way and excited about the development of Canadian Marcel DeBellis, 23, who has earned the backup job, though his re-signing has not been made official. DeBellis trained with intensity that never wavered even when it was became clear his only game action last year would be in reserve games, where he impressed.

"We want a second keeper that wants to become the first keeper but understands his role as a (backup)," Dos Santos said. "We feel that Marcel DeBellis, the way he grew in the season, he deserves a shot.

"He grew during the year, he grew with time, with every training session," he said. "The kid has something special (and) we want to give him that chance."

Twitter: @chrishofley