New A-League side Western United nearly announced their looming arrival in the competition with the high profile signing of Brazilian attacker Alexandre Pato.
According to Fox Sports, United had been in negotiations with Pato's agent for a number of weeks and had got approval from Football Federation Australia to use marquee funds to bring him to Australia.
Pato, however, has opted against the move, and will instead return to Brazilian club Sao Paulo after two years in China with Tianjin Quanjian.
Western United are desperate to arrive in the A-League with a bang and remain on the lookout for a second marquee having already signed Panagiotis Kone.
"We will continue to look for a quality second marquee to complement our signing of Greek international Panagiotis Kone," Western United’s director of football Steve Horvat said.
"We want to bring quality and excitement to the fans of Western United and football fans across Australia."
The club currently have seven contracted players and two assistant coaches signed on with their latest acquisition that of promising Bentleigh Greens attacker Valentino Yuel.
