Melbourne Knights have pulled off a massive coup, bringing Liberian international Patrick Gerhardt back to Australia for the upcoming NPL campaign, pending international clearance.
The defender last played in Australia for A-League side Melbourne Heart between 2012-2014.
At just 31, he still has plenty to offer after a professional career that spans six nations.
The Swiss-born Liberian national started his career at Young Boys, earning selection in Switzerland’s national under 15 and under 16 sides.
After loan stints and unable to cement a first team place at Young Boys he made his first move abroad, signing with Romanian club CS Otopeni.
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His next move was to Canada in 2010, joining Brantford Galaxy, a club he helped earn Canadian League honours.
A season later he signed with Bosnian club Željezničar Sarajevo, where Gerhardt enjoyed considerable success, winning league and cup honours along with Champions League qualification.
It was also in 2011 where he switched allegiances to Liberia, making a debut in an Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against Cape Verde, where he has since gone on to make four national appearances.
In 2012, Gerhardt was lured by Melbourne Heart FC. The going was tougher in Australia but he did make 40 league appearances for one goal before departing in 2014.
The centre-back then made the switch to Malaysian Sarawak FA, where he featured in their 2015 Malaysian Super League season.
He joins a youthful Knights outfit to shore up one of last year’s most fragile rearguards – which conceded the fourth most goals, with the leakier defences all coming from the three clubs that were eventually relegated – and losing the likes of Chris May, Tomislav Uskok and Ivan Grgic in recent seasons.
The Knights have been busy in the off-season transfer window, also bringing over Kym Harris, Jake Barker-Daish, Elvis Kamsoba, Danny Dixon, Tomislav Fadljevic and Tom Cahill to Somers Street.