The newest member of Ottawa Fury FC may want to wait a bit before coming to tour his new city.

Meet left back Mike Randolph, Fury’s newest signing who is a veteran of both Major League Soccer (MLS) and the North American Soccer League (NASL) and last year captained the latter’s Atlanta Silverbacks.

He’s also from California, where he still lives and where it is currently 20C, while Ottawa in January feels a lot like, well, Ottawa in January.

But Randolph, speaking to the Sun from Los Angeles shortly after his deal was announced Wednesday, is thrilled to be coming to Ottawa, crazy as moving here from there in the winter must seem to most rational Californians.

“It’s exciting, I’ve never lived outside of the United States before so I’m expecting a bit of culture shock,” he said with a laugh.

It’s not like Randolph hasn’t been to Canada before — he’s played for Atlanta since 2012, featuring in 42 games, and last year travelled here to face Fury during the latter’s inaugural season. From 2006 to 2008 he featured in 39 matches for the MLS side Los Angeles Galaxy, playing with the likes of Davis Beckham and Landon Donovan.

After playing against Fury a few times last year, it doesn’t sound like he was much of a tough sell to join the club.

“The idea of what Ottawa was trying to do was fun to me,” Randolph said. “Not very many teams really want to be possession-oriented or play attractive soccer.

“It’s really a numbers-driven sport; you need goals, you need wins and sometimes you don’t play pretty soccer when you want to achieve those things. You can achieve both (and) I saw that in Ottawa.”

The 29-year-old was also impressed by Marc Dos Santos and his coaching staff, which includes technical director Phil Dos Santos, assistant coach Martin Nash and goalkeeper coach and Liverpool legend Bruce Grobbelaar.

“It’s astounding, it’s crazy,” Randolph said. “Normally on a coaching staff, if you get one coach with that kind of experience (it’s great). Here you’ve got two, three coaches with exceptional careers.”

Randolph said he wants to “not just have fun playing soccer but to be a student all over again.”

“It’s a really good opportunity for me and I’m all about it,” he said.

Dos Santos figures to rely heavily on Randolph’s experience at left back, a position occupied at times by both Maykon and Ramon Soria, neither of whom are still with the club.

“He has a great ability to join the attack and is very physical on the defensive side of his game. He has experience in the NASL which is definitely a plus for us,’ Dos Santos said.

SET IN NET

Speaking of Bruce Grobbelaar, the keeper coach finds himself in a good spot going into his first full season with Fury FC.

With the group of keepers whittled down to two from the four that finished last year, the top goalie will once again be France’s Romuald Peiser, the 36-year-old veteran Grobbelaar calls “an absolutely brilliant professional.” Backing him up will be Marcel DeBellis, who moves up the depth chart with the club electing to part ways with Devala Gorrick. Dos Santos is a fan of DeBellis and said he earned his shot as the No. 2 guy.

Grobbelaar agrees and days ago said DeBellis was, in fact a better goalie than Simon Mignolet, the Belgian keeper currently tending goal for his former club, Liverpool.

He means it, too.

“What I say is what I mean,” said Grobbelaar, saying DeBellis commands his area and distributes the ball better than the 26-year-old and is as good a shot-stopper.

DeBellis chuckles when asked if he heard about the comparison.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” said the 23-year-old Oakville native. “If he thinks that, I’ll take it.

“Working with Bruce is always a pleasure, he’s one of the greatest goalies ever.”

DeBellis admits last season was tough for him — “being put down a position is never easy,” he said — but is confident heading into this season in the second spot with every plan to push Peiser for minutes.

“It is exciting and I can’t wait to get back,” he said. “For me it was a very easy decision (to stay in Ottawa).”

That suits his coach just fine.

“I’ve always said that Marcel has the attributes to become an excellent goalkeeper,” Grobbelaar said. “He’s tall, he’s strong ... I like goalkeepers that can command their whole area. If a ball’s in the air you know that Marcel is going to come for it.

“It’s great that he’s going to be back.”

Grobbelaar said he will bring in a third goalie to develop with the club but has high hopes for his current tandem.

“It’s going to be brilliant, it’s going to be fantastic this season,” he said.

Twitter: @chrishofley