Western Sydney Wanderers’ “marquee signing”, former Japanese international, Shinji Ono arrived in Sydney on Monday morning and was even greeted at the airport by a few of the fans of the new A-League team.

“I’m surprised there are so many people here, [especially] to sing a song about me already,” Ono said to gathered reporters. “Now I just want to give my everything for the club. It’s very exciting to play here. I think I’ll be ready (for Saturday’s match in the A-League against Central Coast Mariners at Parramatta Stadium) but I need to speak with the manager of the team. I feel ready to play. I want to play here. I want to show the people what I can do. I hope a lot of people come to the stadium to watch the game.”

Ono has had a storied career over 17 years since he actually originally spurned the advances of his local team – S-Pulse,  in 1998, signing for Urawa Reds where he played from 1998 to 2001, returning for a second stint in 2006-07). He also played for Feyenoord, in Holland’s Eredivisie (2001-05),Vfl Bochum in Germany (2007-10) before returning to Reds, an then finally returning “home) to join Shimizu S-Pulse in 2010.

Ono also has 56 caps for Japan, including a shock inclusion for the France 1998 World Cup (when Kazuyoshi Miura was dropped at the last minute), as well as the 2002 and 2006 World Cups.

West Sydney Wanderers coach Tony Popovic said,

“(Shinji) is an experienced player at all levels and has played on some of the biggest stages in the world, his professionalism at the top level will be good for all to see.”

Ono had not been playing regularly at S-Pulse this season, due to niggling ankle injuries and the emergence of new players at the club and S-Pulse coach Afshin Ghotbi was not going to stand in the player’s way when this offer came along. The club and the Iranian coach agreed to cancel his contract in order for the move to be transfer-free, and wished him the best of luck in his new venture.

“It is a new chapter in his career and, as he was not playing at S-Pulse, we were not going to hinder his progress by asking for fee or making ti difficult for Ono to find another club. He moves on with our best wishes and our thanks for his service to S-Pulse”.