Western Sydney Wanderers promote more youth, signing Mohamad Adam

Time moves fast in football and, as 19-year-old Mohamad Adam will attest, a week can change a career. Seven days ago, the young striker was just another promising member of Western Sydney Wanderers' youth team. On Wednesday, he made his competitive debut for the club when coming on as a substitute against Perth Glory in the FFA Cup. Minutes later, he scored his first goal for the club in their 2-1 triumph and on Friday his surreal week was sealed with the signing of his two-year contract with the club.

"I was stoked after the contract was handed to me. Straight away I called my dad, my family and friends and they were very happy for me," he said. "They were very happy, it’s their dream come true and they’re just happy to see me actually make my dream a reality."

The Sudan-born young forward caught the attention of the club's hierarchy after two prolific years with the youth team in the NPL 2.

"I had a chat with [football operations manager] Gavin [Costello] about my future at the club and he said ‘keep going the way you are in the NPL and eventually I’ll offer you a contract.’ He stuck to his word," he said.

He was handed a scholarship contract and a show of faith from Wanderers coach Markus Babbel who hasn't hesitated looking towards the youngster to bolster Western Sydney's attack.

"Markus is a very good coach of course, he’s very good with young players. He said to me that he doesn’t care how old I am, if I am 18 or 34. If I am good enough, he’ll put me on. I just have to show myself," Adam said. "Markus sees me as a striker and that’s where I do my best and I have a big impact with the team."

Adam is the latest young talent to come off the busy production belt that is the club's youth development program. He is the 10th player in this season's A-League squad to progress through their academy into a senior squad where nearly every second player was his former youth teammate.

"I had players like Fabian Monge, Tass Mourdoukoutas, Kosta Grozos, Tate Russell - plenty of youth players made it to the first team and it makes me feel really good," Adam said. "I first started at Marconi Stallions. I had a really good season there. [Youth coach] Arthur Diles was watching me and after a really good season, he asked me to come over for a few sessions and then offered me a NYL contract and I was really excited for that. He offered me an NYL contract and I took it with both hands."

Meanwhile, Central Coast have added some experience to their midfield with the signing of Serbian midfielder Milan Duric. The 31-year-old arrives in Gosford after spells with Jagodina, Vojvodina and the now defunct FK Belgrade in his home land, as well as Istra in Croatia and Metalurg Skopje in Macedonia.

Elsewhere, Wellington Phoenix pulled off a significant coup with the addition of former Bundesliga player Matti Steinmann. The 24-year-old made 11 appearances with Hamburg in Germany's top flight, having progressed through the club's youth ranks. A holding midfielder, he broke into the German youth teams, making five appearances for their under-20s.