Photo: South Melbourne

South Melbourne have secured the signing of former River Plate academy player Gavin de Niese for the upcoming 2017 NPL campaign.

The 21-year-old midfielder joins South having trialled with the club over the summer and most recently scored in a 2-0 friendly victory over Murray United on Friday night.

A Springvale White Eagles and South East Piranhas junior, de Niese moved to Argentina aged 14 and spent the following six years in Buenos Aires with Los Millonarios.

He was part of a contingent of Australians trying their luck in Argentina at the time which included his former Piranhas teammates Rashid Mahazi and Kris Kioussis.

However injuries disrupted his final few years in South America with the youngster returning home last year after spending some time trialling in Europe.

He was expected to sign a first-team contract with Melbourne City before unfortunately tearing his anterior cruciate ligament and being ruled out for a number of months through injury.

“Gavin has spent a large part of the pre-season with the club and his attitude while coming back from injury has been outstanding,” football director Nicholas Maikousis told smfc.com.au.

“We believe that we are bringing in an extremely composed, experienced and creative midfielder who will compliment the players currently in the squad. Coming from a professional environment and big club in River Plate, we believe he is a perfect fit for us when fit and firing.”

De Niese joins Jesse Daley, Luke Pavlou, Stefan Zinni, Liam McCormick and Carl Piergianni as new arrivals at Lakeside Stadium with 20’s defender Joshua Hodes also promoted to the first team.

New signing Ajdin Fetahagic has suffered a long-term injury which will keep him out indefinitely while it is understood that former Melbourne Victory and Avondale winger Francesco Stella has been released just weeks after agreeing terms with the club for the 2017 season.

South Melbourne kick-off their competitive season with a Community Shield tie against the Bentleigh Greens on February 2 before beginning their NPL Championship defence by visiting the Bulleen Lions on February 13.