HE’S only been gone for two years, but Josh Brillante has returned to Australia with his eyes wide open.

Not that he didn’t experience the volatile nature of football before he left – his first club was Gold Coast United, the plaything of the infamous Clive Palmer.

From there to the Jets, Brillante quickly – perhaps too quickly – found himself in the deep end: in Serie A with giants Fiorentina.

Two seasons have passed and he passed through three clubs before coming back to play for Sydney FC this season, perhaps a better footballer, definitely no longer a kid.

Return daily to foxsports.com.au in the lead up to the A-League kick-off as Adam Peacock profiles the new names in the A-League in an exclusive preview series.

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Sydney FC's Josh Brillante. Source: News Corp Australia

Peacock: Josh welcome back to Australia, let me track this – Bundaberg, to Gold Coast, to Newcastle, to Florence, other parts of Italy like Lake Como, to Sydney. Not your regular path!

Brillante: No, and I was in Brisbane there for a bit before Gold Coast at the QAS too. It was a bit of a journey after coming from a small country town in Queensland. It’s been great developing as a footballer and learning as a person.

Growing up in Bundy, what was a big trip, going to the Gold Coast?

Yeah, just going to a big city was exciting or the Sunshine Coast, we always went there for family holidays.

Fair to say you’re worldlier now than when you first got into the A League?

Yeah, for sure. When I first came into the A-League was very shy and timid, now I’m a bit more open and more relaxed, but also more confident and developed as a person, which has been the great part of being in football.

That first experience in the A-League at Gold Coast United – have you got a favourite Clive Palmer story?

Funny guy, Clive. He used to just rock up at training – he’d call a meeting, we’re all there waiting and all of a sudden his helicopter lands on the pitch. I didn’t know how to take him, was just a new young fella coming through, didn’t know what was normal. Obviously I know now it wasn’t normal. The other big thing was when he gave the captaincy to Mitch Cooper (who was 17 at the time and yet to play an A-League game).

Josh Brillante in action for Gold Coast United. Source: News Limited

And who could forget the night he gave the team talk... What about the Jets, your next stop?

The Jets was great. We didn’t have the best couple of seasons when I was there, but a lot of young players got game time to put themselves in the shop window to make moves overseas and make national teams.

That shop window – when did you first hear about the possibility of playing in Italy?

It all started when I went to the under 20s World Cup in Turkey. We did okay as a team and were unlucky not to get out of the group.

From there, Vince Grella has just become an agent, he got in touch to look after me. Then clubs in Italy got in touch, was a shock because it all happened so quickly.

You ended up being Fiorentina, were you ready for it in retrospect?

Ahh… depends. I could look back on it now and say it wasn’t the right thing and it didn’t go as well as expected. Or it could have easily gone the other way. I went over there had a great pre-season and the coach played me in the first (Serie A) game. It was looking all good and all of a sudden it changes like that.

(Brillante was substituted 35 minutes into his debut against Roma and played just 7 more minutes for Fiorentina)

Did it blow you away how cut throat it can be, because even by European football standards, that is as cut throat as it gets. How did you deal with it, did it end up helping you in a perverse way?

Yeah, it definitely helped me grow as a player. Those sort of things don’t happen in the A-League. It’s much more cut throat over there. The way it happened I thought it was a bit unfair, but sometimes that’s how it goes. Being young, not speaking the language, made it a lot more difficult. I had to take it all on board and work out what I could do as a player.

Josh Brillante in action for the Socceroos. Source: Getty Images

You went on loan to Empoli – the birthplace of Vinnie Grella and Mark Bresciano’s European adventures - and also Como, up there on Lake Como where the rich and famous hang out. How were those experiences?

Great experiences. Empoli was like a family, everything set up there was another level. Unfortunately didn’t get to play much there, they just came up to Serie A, had Maurizio Sarri (now at Napoli) as boss and most of the players he used they played week in, week out and they had a good season - that’s what you expect when a team doing well.

I moved to Como (in Serie B) to get more game time, that was a difficult year – three coaches in the one season!

Anything really surprise you in Italian football?

Just the smoking! All the coaches smoked, Sarri was smoking on the training pitch, during training... I thought that a bit strange. But overall it was a real insight to see how it works in different clubs, different places and luckily I’ve got the opportunity to come home.

I’m surprised Arnie didn’t take up smoking given the stress of last season… how did it all come about, the move to the Harbour City?

Even though there were a couple of tough years in Italy, still being young (23yo) it was important to get back playing. I’d been on Arnie’s radar for a while. He got in contact over the off season and got me here to be a part of it all.

Sydney FC's new signing Josh Brillante. Source: News Corp Australia

This two year adventure, what has improved more, your football, or your street smarts?

A bit of both. Learning to deal with different situations as a person was the biggest learning curve. Football as well, but definitely more streetwise. I speak Italian now, there’s a few Italian in Sydney so I’m going to try and keep it up. I don’t want to lose it after finally learning the language.

So what are the ambitions, both as a team and personally?

Success for Sydney FC. Last season we didn’t make the finals, we got some good players in so we’re looking to try and win all three comps we’re in. On a personal level, if the team does well, the rest will follow. My ambition is to get back into the Socceroos, it’s in the back of my mind.

Wish you well with it - the football and keeping up the Italian. And stay off the smokes – go well.

Will do. Cheers Adam, thanks.