Each team is allowed five visa players, and year after year it becomes more apparent that the clubs that sign foreign players who fit in to the Australian game and play regularly tend to do the best. Melbourne Victory's title-winning team from last season is a case in point. French centre back Matthieu Delpierre made an enormous difference, even though he was injured for much of the campaign. When Delpierre played Victory were practically unbeatable. In fact, they have only lost one A-League match (and that an inexplicable home defeat to bottom team Newcastle) when he has been in the starting line-up. As Kevin Muscat's team galloped to the championship/premiership double the remaining four imports – Albanian Besart Berisha, Tunisian Fahid Ben Khalfallah, Brazilian Gui Finkler and Kiwi Kosta Barbarouses – were virtual ever presents, all making massive contributions to the title challenge with Ben Khalfallah regarded as the best foreign signing of the season. Sydney, who went down in the grand final last year, also got a good tune out of their foreigners. Marc Janko was paid a seven-figure sum and as a marquee player he probably didn't put many bums on seats but he did the job on the pitch, leading the A-League goalscoring charts with 16 goals in 22 games.

Graham Arnold's losing grand final side boasted its full complement of foreigners, as Nikola Petkovic, Milos Dimitrijevic, Jacques Faty, Mickael Tavares and Janko all turned out for the sky blues. For this season Victory have retained their "famous five" and with a year of Australian conditions under their belts, Ben Khalfallah and Delpierre, although both in or approaching the veteran stage, could be even more effective. Arnold's team has lost Serbian defender Petkovic and Janko, but has retained the others and recruited Slovakian international Filip Holosko and Serbian Milos Ninkovic, two players from whom the coach this season expects big things. Holosko spent seven years with one of Turkey's biggest clubs, Besiktas, before coming to Australia and at 31 he is young enough still to make a difference at the sharp end for the ground. Ninkovic is 30 and started in central midfield for the Serbian team at the 2010 World Cup in the shock 1-0 group-phase win over Germany, as well as the 2-1 loss to Australia which eliminated the Balkan side from the tournament. Both men possess the pedigree to make a real impact this season.

Melbourne City is a club that hasn't always had great success with its foreign signings, but it is hoping that things will improve greatly this year. Robert Koren, the marquee player, had a disappointing first season in this country. The former Slovenian captain (who also played in the 2010 World Cup) was injured for the first half of the 2014-15 campaign and then, a few occasions aside, did not have the impact hoped for. He is fully fit this year and the City hierarchy is hoping that with a season's experience of Australian conditions under his belt he can play a more consistent and effective role. The light blues of Melbourne have pinned their attacking hopes on another promising foreigner, Bruno Fornaroli, a Uruguayan striker. Fornaroli, aged 28, has had a peripatetic career with spells in Italy, Greece, his native Uruguay, Argentina and Spain before his move to Australia. He is quick and sharp and City are hoping he can be the penalty-box finisher they have lacked in recent seasons. He also likes to drop deep and create space for the attacking midfielders to fill, acting as a linkman, so he offers a real change of style to City's last centre forward, the tall ex-Socceroo Josh Kennedy.

City have also signed two ex-Premier League veterans this season in a bid to address a cultural issue in the dressing room – a tendency for the team to collectively lose confidence or focus, as it did so often in an inconsistent 2014-15 campaign when on some occasions its looked terrific and on others terrible. Thomas Sorensen, the ex-Aston Villa, Stoke and Sunderland goalkeeper, and Aaron Hughes, the former Fulham and Newcastle centre half, have a wealth of experience and big-game knowhow and coach John van 't Schip is hoping that they will be able to assist club captain Paddy Kisnorbo in providing a steely edge and mental toughness in the dressing room and out on the pitch. Across the league there are a swathe of new faces from foreign fields, as there is every year. The trick for coaches is getting them to work. Adelaide United's recent good form has been achieved on the back of a swag of Spanish imports, and Perth Glory have followed suit by recruiting winger Diego Castro. Castro might be 33, but his pedigree for a league such as the Australian competition is good as he has spent the last seven years in La Liga, Spain's top division, playing for Sporting Gijon and then Getafe.

Whether they are European, African, Asian or North or South American, imports provide the sizzle, but they must also provide the steak. They need to hit the ground running, and if they don't its usually their coaches that pay the price.