Georg Niedermeier didn't need much persuading about making Melbourne home when Victory boss Kevin Muscat came calling in the off-season.

The 32-year-old centre back was well versed in stories about the A-League, the city of Melbourne and the country as a whole: hardly surprising as at various points in the past few seasons he had played with several of Victory's best-known former players, such as Robbie Kruse, Mitch Langerak and Marco Rojas.

Stuttgart's Georg Niedermeier (right) defends against Frankfurt's Haris Seferovic in the Bundesliga. Credit:EPA

But the key man in his decision-making process was a European who had come to the A-League and quickly impressed all and sundry with his class, skill and style before returning to Germany.

The player in question was Matthieu Delpierre, widely regarded by Victory fans – and coach Muscat – as the best central defender the club has ever had, and a former teammate of Niedermeier's when the latter was a youngster starting his top-level football at Stuttgart.