Australian League (A-League) football team, the Newcastle Jets, signed Brazilian striker Jair Eduardo Britto da Silva on Monday, following his release from Chinese Super League (CSL) club Yanbian Funde.
Jair, who has spent the last few months back in Brazil after a lean season at Yanbian Funde with 13 appearances in CSL games, and having arrived in Australia on Sunday, will begin training with his new teammates this week on a one-year deal.
The 30-year-old striker has also previously played and been a prolific goal-scorer in leagues in Brazil, Japan and S. Korea. Statistics show Jair was a prolific goal-scorer in the Korean League, scoring 46 goals in 110 games for Jeju United and Jeonnam Dragons.
A-League Newcastle Jets football club announced the signing of Jair Eduardo Britto da Silva on Twitter. /Screenshot from Twitter
The A-League club manager Ernie Merrick appreciated Jair's goal-scoring competence in S. Korea and hoped his adding could boost the team which recently needed prowess in their front end roster. The Scottish-Australian coach's squad lost three players responsible for half the team's goals last season to temporary injuries and transfers.
"Jair has great experience, attacking flair and has played at a couple of S. Korea's biggest clubs," Merrick said.
"He's been successful in a high quality league over an extended period, to have scored so many goals in a league as competitive and technical as the K-League is certainly impressive.
"I'm really looking forward to how he can combine with the likes of Ronnie (Vargas) and Dimi (Petratos) to create goal-scoring opportunities.
"I've watched the way Jair goes about his business and I think he's the sort of attacking player our fans can be excited about."
Based in one of the world's largest coal ports just north of Sydney, the Newcastle Jets were purchased by the Chinese optoelectronics company, Ledman, in 2016 for a reported 3.5 million US dollars.
At the time, Ledman's principal stockholder, Martin Lee, said in a statement: "We see a bright future for football across Asia and the A-League is at the forefront as one of the top professional leagues in the region."
(Cover photo: Jair Eduardo Britto da Silva (L) of Jeju United and Matthew Foschini (R) of Melbourne Victory compete for the ball during the AFC Champions League group match in Seogwipo, S. Korea, May 11, 2011. /VCG Photo)