Western Sydney Wanderers FC have tonight locked in the signing of forward Nathaneal Blair on a two-year scholarship deal.
The towering striker started his junior career at National Premier League icons APIA Leichhardt in their U13s squad where he played in three age groups before making the switch to Northbridge.
After a year away from the game, Blair returned to APIA at the start of 2022 and made an immediate impact, scoring the winner in Round 2’s fixture against Manly United.
The 17-year-old is set to play in his first season of the A-Leagues and is eager to get started.
“I had heard from my coach that some of the teams were interested in me, watching my games, but obviously to be called and told that they want to sign you – there’s no feeling like it,” said Blair.
“I was actually at work at Bunnings when I got the call with the Wanderers saying we’re interested, we want to sign you. So obviously I finished that phone call and then went back to serving customers.
“There’s a lot of hard work for me to do. I’m looking forward to the pre-season but I’ve got to make sure I keep my head down and push myself. Hopefully the results will come.
“I’d like to think I bring some character. I enjoy people, I work hard and I’d like to think I can score some goals. I think potentially it’s because I model what a number 9 can do. I’m strong, fast and I like to shoot on goal. If I can spend some time honing my skills here, I really think I can be really useful for him (head coach Mark Rudan) in the upcoming season.
“My own personal goals are just to end up scoring some goals. I like to score them and with that I can bring success to the team.”
