A "gut feeling" convinced former Socceroo Brett Holman to overlook big-money European offers and sign with A-League team Brisbane Roar.
Holman has arrived in Brisbane after penning a two-year deal with the club, which will see him play under the salary cap this season but become a marquee player in 2017-18.
The experienced attacking utility could have moved back to the Netherlands, where he made his name, remained in the Middle East, where he has played for the past two years on a comfortable salary, or chosen a more stable A-League club to return to.
But Holman, 32, said the Roar was the right fit in every way.
"With almost every move I've made, football comes first and foremost," Holman told reporters.
"I think a lot of footballers know you have to have a gut feeling about what sort of move you make. Everything has to come together.
"There's different factors, having a young family, but we've been speaking for a while and my gut said this was the right move for me."
Holman, who scored twice at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, hasn't played in Australia since leaving the Parramatta Power to embark on a professional career in Europe nearly 14 years ago.
The move reunites him with Roar coach John Aloisi, who he played alongside at the 2004 Olympics, as well another ex-Socceroo teammate in football director Craig Moore.
"At the back end of last season, I saw a few of the games, they went really close to achieving the almost impossible in the season they had," he said.
"That sort of shows what sort of coach [Aloisi] is that rubs off the team.
"You saw in difficult circumstances how well Brisbane Roar were playing. That said a lot to me."
Holman said he was at no point deterred by the Roar's extensive off-field issues.
"As a footballer, sometimes those circumstances come up. I've been in situations in the past, in Holland for example, where the owners have been bankrupt," he said.
"The most important thing is the technical staff."
Holman could make his first appearance in Brisbane colours in Saturday's friendly against the Central Coast Mariners.