Perth Glory is delighted to announce that attacking midfielder, Chris Ikonomidis has joined the club on a three-year deal.
The 23-year-old becomes the fourth Socceroo to be added to the Glory squad for the 2018/19 season, taking the total number of full internationals on the club’s books to seven.
Cronulla-born Ikonomidis, who first rose to prominence at youth level for Sutherland Sharks, moved to Italy aged just 16 to sign with Atalanta and 18 months later, joined Lazio on a three-year contract.
He subsequently debuted for the Rome-based club in a Europa League tie against St Etienne before being loaned out to Serie B outfit Salernitana, for whom he made 14 appearances in the 2015-16 season.
Another loan spell followed, this time in Denmark with AGF, while last season, the versatile attacker returned to Australia and scored three times in ten games for Western Sydney Wanderers.
At international level, Ikonomidis rejected overtures from the Greek FA in favour of representing Australia and was capped at Under-20 and Under-23 level ahead of making his Socceroos debut against FYR Macedonia in 2015.
He has won six senior caps to date.
Having flown into Perth on Monday evening, the new recruit can’t wait for what he believes will be a very successful season to get underway.
“The appeal of coming here was the project that is happening at the club,” he said.
“I definitely think that Glory will be competing for the title this year and that was one of the most tempting things about signing.
“I spoke to Matt Spiranovic over the ‘phone a few weeks ago and he really convinced me what a great place this is.
“I enjoyed my time in the A-League last season and now I’m really excited to get started with Perth.”
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Glory Football Director Jacob Burns revealed that the club had beaten off a host of other clubs to secure the services of the gifted attacker.
“We had to fight long and hard to get Chris on board,” he said, “as there were numerous other teams, both here and abroad, vying for his signature.
“To get another Socceroo onto the books is fantastic and he adds further quality and balance to what was already a very strong squad.
“The fact that he has been at a club of Lazio’s stature is a clear indication of the talent he possesses and he is also a proven performer at A-League level having scored three goals and provided four assists for Wanderers in only ten games last season.
“The extra attacking option that he provides will ensure another wonderful selection headache for Head Coach Tony Popovic.”
Those sentiments were echoed by Perth Glory CEO Tony Pignata.
“It is fantastic to sign Chris and it shows what we are building here at Perth Glory,” he said.
“We are striving to win trophies this season and getting players of this calibre on board is a testament to the ambitions of the club.”
Ikonomidis will wear the number 19 shirt this season.
Player Profile
Name: Christopher James Ikonomidis
Age: 23
Date of Birth: 4/5/1995
Place of Birth: Cronulla, NSW
Nationality: Australian
Height: 1.80m
Youth Career
2005 – 2009 Cronulla RSL
2009 – 2012 Sutherland Sharks
2012 – 2013 – Atalanta
2013 – 2015 – Lazio
Career Appearances Goals
2015 – 18 Lazio 1 0
2016 – Salernitana (Loan) 14 1
2016 – 17 – AGF (Loan) 18 1
2018 – Western Sydney Wanderers (Loan) 10 3
National Team
2013 – 15 – Australia Under-20 5 4
2014 – Australia Under-23 6 0
2015 – Australia 6 0
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