Melbourne Victory have pulled off another transfer coup, convincing Swedish striker Ola Toivonen to join the A-League champions.
Toivonen has signed a two-year deal with Kevin Muscat's side from French club Toulouse. The 32-year-old will travel to Melbourne in the next fortnight to link up with his new teammates.
"Ola brings proven quality to our attack and he will play a big role in leading our forward line this season," Muscat said.
"He is exactly the kind of player we wanted to recruit, he is an accomplished striker so I'm delighted he's decided to come to Melbourne. We still have one visa spot available and we're working hard to add even more quality to our ranks."
The World Cup quarterfinalist links up with Keisuke Honda in a forward line of international quality. Toivonen has scored 14 goals in 64 games for Sweden, calling time on his international career after their unlikely run to the last eight in Russia. He started each of Sweden's matches at the World Cup, scoring against reigning champions Germany.
His transfer puts Victory firmly in the frame for back-to-back championships despite a mass clear-out of players. Eight senior stars -- Leroy George, James Donachie, Rhys Williams, Stefan Nigro, Matias Sanchez, Mitch Austin, Christian Theoharous and Valon Berisha -- left the club following their grand final win over Newcastle.
Toivonen said he wanted to bring title number five to AAMI Park.
"If you go on an adventure, you want the possibility of winning, you want to win something," he said.
"With the squad that has been assembled, including Keisuke, Georg [Niedermeier] and myself, I think we can do some good things this year."
