One of Australian football's most prodigious young players, Alex Gersbach, will begin his senior career under former Socceroos coach Graham Arnold at Sydney FC after inking a two-year deal.
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The 17-year-old left back impressed Arnold during a series of trial matches with the Sky Blues and will tour with the squad to New Zealand this week to play matches against English Premier League sides Newcastle United and West Ham United.
Rated as one of the best 20 youngsters in the country, Gersbach has been plying his trade for the Australian Institute of Sport, where he picked up the players' player of the year award last season.
The Miranda Magpies and Sutherland Sharks junior said he could not be happier with his career move.
"It's a dream come true to have signed for Sydney FC, the club I have always supported growing up," Gersbach said. "I had no hesitation in signing when the club offered me a contract. To have the chance to play for and perform at the biggest club in the country is an honour and I hope to be able to show that I'm equal to the challenge.
"I hope I can prove to Graham, to the club and to the members and fans that I am good enough to play well at the top level."
Gersbach's specialist position at left back is a rarity, which helped Sydney FC's decision to sign the Australian under-17s representative as one of three under-20 players in the senior squad.
Arnold, Sydney FC's head coach, is renowned for giving young footballers ample opportunities in senior teams and said Gersbach has an extremely bright future.
"Alex is a talented young player," Arnold said. "We beat off a number of other A-League clubs to get his signature, which shows how highly he is rated.
"As a club, we are determined to invest time and money into identifying these young players in the hope they can go on to play and represent Sydney FC at the very highest level."
Gersbach made his debut in a trial match against the Macarthur Rams, which Sydney won 5-1, and will be nipping at the heels of the Sky Blues' current defenders Sasa Ognenovski, Nikola Petkovic and Daniel Petkovski.
"Alex and his family believe in what we are trying to achieve here and how we are looking to develop Australia's next generation of young players in the country," Arnold said. "He has a great chance to show us what he can achieve and hopefully this is only the beginning for him."
