The Spanish influence on the A-League has been growing and last season saw important contributions from several Spanish footballers to a number of A-League clubs including the two grand finalists and Perth Glory.
South Melbourne is hoping to bring a bit of that Spanish influence to Lakeside after reaching a loan agreement with a Spanish club for the services of a Spanish striker for the rest of the 2016 NPL season.
Despite once again leading the table, supporters have long been concerned at what they call an over reliance on the club’s main source of goals, striker Milos Lujic. ‘What if Milsy was to get injured or if he were to suddenly lose form? Where would that leave South?’
Enter Manuel (Manolo) Padilla Herrero, 23-year-old striker from newly promoted La Liga club Deportivo Leganes who joins on-loan till the end of the NPL season.
Herrero has just completed a fruitful 2015-16 season playing for the Leganes development team for which he scored 22 goals. South fans got a first-hand look at his goal scoring potential when he bagged a hat trick for South Melbourne’s youth team against Port Melbourne at Lakeside last Friday evening. He subsequently made his senior debut midweek in South’s ill-fated cup tie against Bentleigh Greens, coming off the bench to play up front with Lujic, in a game in which he had few opportunities.
SMFC football director Andrew Mesourouni said on SMFC.com.au “We believe that Manolo will be a great fit for our club and we are happy to have another forward join our ranks. I would personally like to thank our friends in Spain for allowing this to happen, including Leganes President Victoria Pavon who has established a relationship between the clubs and personally assisted us through this signing. We would once again like to thank Morris Pagniello from SMFC Platinum Partner Genova International School of Soccer (GISS) for assisting the club with such a move and further strengthening our ties in Europe. GISS has been instrumental in opening up numerous opportunities for both senior and junior players at our club, including player tours to Madrid and helping SMFC establish numerous relationships across Spain. This has also allowed our club to bring players of a high calibre to South Melbourne FC. We would also like to thank Manolo’s player agent Lucas Marco Vicente for all his help securing the loan deal.”
Just what the long term benefits of such a signing are for the club, remains to be seen. And just how he is to be accommodated into South’s team structure and coach Chris Taylor’s plans are also unclear. One could imagine, Herrero expects to see plenty of game time in his short stint here, prior to the start of the Spanish season. Speaking on SMFC.com, coach Taylor said, “”We have signed Manolo to give us an additional option in our front third and to assist our current attacking options throughout the remaining part of the season. We look forward to seeing what he can produce in a South shirt.”