The 19-year-old youth captain of the Western Sydney Wanderers has secured his time in the seniors after signing a two-year contract.
Yiannis Perkatis has committed to his local club till the 2015 season and his been promoted to the senior club ranks this week.
Already training with the seniors since the pre-season in July, the young midfielder has matured well at the higher level.
“It is tough but I enjoy coming to training every day and it is good for my development as a young player training with the professionals and learning from the coaching staff,” Perkatis said.
“I want to commit to the Wanderers because I have grown up in the Western Sydney community.”
Despite his age, Perkatis has represented Australia in the Under 17 FIFA World Cup in Mexico in 2011 and has played junior football with Blacktown City.
Wanderers’ coach, Tony Popovic found it easy to recruit Perkatis after watching him play in the youth leagues.
“Yianni has developed well with us this year and we think there is more to come. With all round skills and a good passing range, he is comfortable on the ball and is capable of controlling the midfield,” Popovic said.
It’s become the fashion now for great teams to recruit young blood to their teams to make sure they don’t come with baggage and are willing to learn.
Melbourne Victory this week announced they had agreed to give Connor Pain his first professional contract, keeping him on till the 2014/15 season.
“He’s still got a fair bit to learn but he’s doing all the right things and he’s a player we’ll look to really develop over the next couple of seasons,” coach Ange Postecoglou said.
On top of Perkatis’ recruitment, 18-year-old Josh Barresi has joined the Western Sydney Wanderers after playing in Adelaide for the AIS.
Popovic said Barresi was a talented and versatile young player with good skills.
“He is a big boy but he is still physically developing and he has great technique,” Popovic said.
For their A-league debut, Western Sydney Wanderers have had a stellar season and are front runners for the final. The new recruits have a high standard to work up to.
See next week’s Neos Kosmos for an in depth interview with Yianni Perkatis.