Australian goalkeeper, Mark Birighitti has signed for Premier League outfit, Swansea City.

Across the world

The 25-year-old has completed his free transfer to Wales, making the move from Australian A-League side Newcastle Jets.

Birighitti impressed many down under been named in last year's Team of the Season, and even had international experience; being named on the bench during Australia's 2-1 defeat to England.

The 'keeper has signed a two-year deal at the Liberty Stadium, and will look to battle with Lukasz Fabianski, Kristoffer Nordfeldt and Gerhard Tremmel for the number one position.

Delighted to make the move

The shot stopper is Francesco Guidolin's third signing of the summer - having already completed the moves for Leroy Fer and Mike van der Hoorn - and Birighitti shared his delight at the move.

He told swanseacity.net, "I’m very happy with the move." He explained that a "lot of hard work has gone into it" and that he is "very grateful and humbled by the opportunity to represent such a prestigious and fantastic club".

Birighitti admitted he is "really looking forward to it", especially as a "young footballer growing up you dream of playing in big leagues around the world such as the Premier League", which he feels "is the best in the world". He added, "Hopefully I can repay the club for the faith they have shown in me."

He concluded, “Before coming here I knew there would be strong competition at the club." Birighitti believes "Kristoffer is a very good goalkeeper and Gerhard is too", even going as far as to proclaim Fabianski as "probably one of the best goalkeepers in the tournament" at Euro 2016.

Mark Birightti been unveiled as a Swansea City player | Photo: Swansea City
Mark Birighitti been unveiled as a Swansea City player | Photo: Swansea City

Familiar faces

There will be a familiar face for the keeper when he arrives in South Wales - having worked with Gabriele Ambrosetti during his loan spell with Varese - and he is looking forward to working together again.

Birighitti said "I worked with Gabriele in Italy at Varese, where he was the club’s sporting director", admitting he is a "fantastic person and I’m looking forward to working closely with him again".

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.