Now 11 years into the journey, the A-League is no stranger to marquee signings.
We have seen the absolute best they can offer – cue Alessandro Del Piero – as well as incredible big-money flops. Just look at Federico Piovaccari’s time in Western Sydney or Ricardinho’s time in Melbourne.
The A-League is entering a new age that could revolutionise marquee signings under Football Federation Australia (FFA)’s new guest marquee rule, already used to secure homecoming hero Tim Cahill’s coveted signature.
But it is Melbourne City’s latest marquee addition that stands above the likes of Del Piero, Dwight Yorke and Robbie Fowler as a potential game changer for our young league.
We're pleased to announce @nicolascolazo as our latest @ALeague signing! #AnnounceColazo #ColazoSigns
👆 https://t.co/PzAjIPYUrA pic.twitter.com/nlvDPlnmuF
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) September 20, 2016
City announced it had signed Argentinian Nicolas Colazo on Wednesday as the club’s second marquee player on a one-season loan, to be paid under mainstay marquee rules rather than the new guest guidelines.
Before his eventual debut for City, Colazo will have spent his entire career with boyhood club and homeland powerhouse Boca Juniors, with the exception of a brief loan spell with All Boys. At Boca, he chalked up 105 appearances since turning pro in 2008 as an 18-year-old.
Now 26, left-sided Colazo can be considered to be hitting the prime of his career. Never before has the A-League been able to reel in a marquee player at the peak of his powers.
The closest it has come to securing a marquee at a similar stage was former Sydney FC striker Marc Janko, who scored 16 times in just 24 matches with the Sky Blues after joining from Turkish club Trabzonspor.
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Since moving back abroad, he has represented Austria at Euro 2016 and is playing UEFA Champions League football with FC Basel – a glowing assessment of the A-League if ever there was one.
But Colazo’s pedigree is a cut above.
The 111-year-old Boca is one of world football’s most famous clubs, once upon a time the home of Diego Maradona and, more recently, Carlos Tevez’s current stomping ground. La Bombonera Stadium now houses 31 league titles as well as six Copa Libertadores.
If you had have said 11 years ago that an Australian football club would lure a player from the might of Boca, people would have said you were nuts.
Footballers who catch the eye are meant to move to Europe or South America, not Australia.
Sure, some might say age is just a number.
Even at the ripe age of 37, Juventus legend Del Piero took to the A-League to show the world he had declined little, repaying every cent of Sydney FC’s huge investment.
We have seen very little of Cahill thus far in a City shirt, but we know the quality the evergreen Socceroo still possesses, as well as his incredible star power in mainstream Australian society.
Del Piero was probably the best marquee the A-League has ever seen, and while Cahill has played barely a half of competitive football for Melbourne City, there will be no prizes for successfully predicting his return home to be anything other than a roaring triumph.
But did either player come to the A-League at the height of their powers? The answer is a resounding no.
Other marquees have put Australia on the football map. Flourishing foreign talents that used to be out of reach are taking notice and a new era is playing out before our eyes.
This scene is just the prologue.
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