Melbourne Victory is pleased to announce the signing of Austrian attacking midfielder Kristijan Dobras on a one-year deal.

Croatian-born Dobras, 26, made his debut in the Austrian Regionalliga (third division) in 2010/11 for Rapid Wien II, amassing 53 appearances and scoring 11 goals before earning a call-up to Rapid Wein’s senior side in the Austrian Football Bundesliga.

The midfielder has since made over 130 appearances and scored 15 goals in the first and second divisions in Austria since 2012 for Rapid Wien, Grödig, Wiener Neustadt, Sturm Graz and most recently Rheindorf Altach.

Dobras becomes Head Coach Marco Kurz’s first midfield signing, and Kurz believes he will be invaluable to the club’s line-up this season.

“Kristijan is an exciting player who has developed a strong game in Austria,” said Kurz.

“We see a great opportunity for him to come to Victory and not only grow his game further, but also add a spark to our midfield, which we spoke about during our discussions with him.

“Thankfully these discussions with Kristijan proved very positive, and we’re lucky to have signed him for the season ahead.”

Dobras will arrive in Australia later this week and finalise his contract/begin training with the rest of the squad following a medical assessment.

Current Melbourne Victory Squad

Matthew ACTON, Kenjok ATHIU, Jay BARNETT, Corey BROWN, Leigh BROXHAM, Thomas DENG, Kristijan DOBRAS, James DONACHIE, Tim HOOGLAND, Josh HOPE, Elvis KAMSOBA, Birkan KIRDAR, Robbie KRUSE, Anthony LESIOTIS, Andrew NABBOUT, Storm ROUX, Matthew SUTTON, Lawrence THOMAS, Ola TOIVONEN