Image: Jason Heidrich
Pascoe Vale have completed their third signing in the space of a week with the addition of teenager Anthony Duzel to their senior squad.
The 19 year-old midfielder joins the club following two seasons with the Melbourne Victory Youth team, in addition to having been part of the A-League side’s youth set up for almost five years.
The son of former NSL player Ivan Duzel, he followed in his father’s footsteps by joining the Melbourne Knights as a youngster before progressing through the state elite representative sides.
Following a short trial in England with the Leicester City Academy, Duzel junior returned home and made his senior debut for the Knights in 2013.
He went on to make 14 appearances for the two-time NSL Champions, helping Andrew Marth’s side claim the 2014 Dockerty Cup.
Duzel departed for the Victory NPL team the following season, featuring in all 30 of their league games in a successful 2015 campaign which saw Darren Davies’ men promoted to the top tier.
He made a further 21 appearances for Victory in the top-flight before ending his time with the club at season’s end, having made 51 league appearances.
Despite spending some of the pre-season training with South Melbourne, Duzel has opted to call the surrounds of CB Smith Reserve home for the upcoming season.
The defensive midfielder joins fellow midfield enforcer Matteo Ballan, former South Hobart forward Darcy Hall and ex-Knights teammate Jacob Colosimo as new arrivals to Vitale Ferrante’s squad for the 2017 NPL Campaign.