City Sign Somali International

The 25-year-old arrives at Kiwitea Street from Green Gully SC and brings valuable experience from Australia’s 𝗡𝗣𝗟 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮 competition, one of the country’s strongest state leagues.

Standing at 191cm, the Australian-born left winger has earned s𝗶𝘅 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘀 for Somalia and has previously represented South Melbourne FC, Heidelberg United FC and Altona Magic SC.

Habib joins the Navy Blues ahead of Sunday’s 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿 against Eastern Suburbs at Madills Farm and is expected to be available for selection.

Our latest recruit has wasted little time settling into his new surroundings and has been impressed by what he has encountered since arriving in Auckland.

“I’ve heard nothing but good things,” said Habib.

“My first impression of the club in terms of the training sessions and the standards has been really good. I’ve heard nothing but good things about the National League as well and what’s to come from it.”

With the domestic campaign beginning this weekend, Habib believes he is ready to make an immediate contribution.

“The season’s finished in Australia but I’ve been doing my own training, staying on top of my fitness and making sure I’m ready,” he said.

“In terms of being able to start games or impact games, I’m more than ready for that.”

While adapting to a new country and club can often require patience, the former Green Gully attacker has arrived with a straightforward objective.

𝗦𝗶𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲.

That was Habib’s immediate response when asked about his goals for the season ahead.

“I know it sounds cliché, but silverware.”

And when asked whether winning trophies was the reason behind his move to Auckland City FC, his answer was equally direct.

“Of course.”

Head coach Rudy Mozr said the club moved quickly to strengthen its squad following the departure of 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁 𝗘𝗹𝗹𝗶𝘀, who recently joined 𝗔-𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲 side 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗿𝘆.

“Losing Matt Ellis was something unexpected for us because we wanted to keep Matt until the end of the season,” said Mozr.

“But it’s an amazing opportunity for him and I’m 100 per cent sure he’ll do really well in the A-League. He was an outstanding player for us and I wish him well.”

While Ellis’ departure created a vacancy in the squad, Mozr believes Auckland City FC have recruited a player capable of making an immediate impact.

“When the opportunity came to bring Bilal in, it was a 𝗻𝗼-𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿,” he said.

“It’s always a quality player who’s coming from Australia and we’re pleased with that.”

Mozr revealed that Habib had been on the club’s radar for some time and that extensive work had gone into the recruitment process before the move was completed.

“We’ve done enough research on him, watched enough games and spoken to people in Melbourne about him,” he said.

“It wasn’t a process where we called him and the next day he was here. We put things in place and we’ve been in touch for quite a while, so he’s pretty familiar with the club.”

Although Habib has completed only a handful of training sessions with his new teammates, Mozr is confident the winger possesses the qualities required to adapt quickly.

“He’s an intelligent player,” said the Auckland City coach.

“I hope he’s as ready as we are.”

The opportunity to demonstrate that readiness could come as soon as Sunday morning when Auckland City FC begin the defence of their National League crown against Eastern Suburbs at Madills Farm.

Ends

AC SQUAD: 1. Louie CAUNTER (GK) 2. Mario ILICH (C) 3. Adam MITCHELL 4. Christian GRAY 5. Nathan ROSTRON 6. Nico ZAMBRANO 7. Michal DOUDERA 8. Gerard GARRIGA 9. Angus KILKOLLY 10. Dylan MANICKUM 11. Ryan DE VRIES 12. Regont MURATI 13. Nathan LOBO 14. Shaan ANAND 15. Jeremy FOO 16. Fergus GILLION 17. Ryan WATSON 18. Ari PRASAD (GK) 19. Rhys DAVIES, 20. Pavel OSMANCIK 21. Bono KACUROV 22. Tong ZHOU 23. Alfie ROGERS 24. Matt FOORD (GK) 25. Mike Den HEIJER, 26. Manraj SINGH 27. Tom GOLDING 29. Bilal HABIB

HEAD COACH: Rudy MOZR
ASSISTANT COACH: Ivan VICELICH
ASSISTANT COACH: Alan SHAKER
GOALKEEPER COACH: Adam BANNISTER
TRAINER: Karlo PAVIC
PHYSIO: Matt PAYNE
TEAM MANAGER: Keith COTON