Mathew Leckie reveals the ‘exciting’ reason for returning home

There is a big reason why Socceroos winger Mathew Leckie felt compelled to return to hometown club Melbourne City.

Leckie, who started his career with Bulleen Lions in Melbourne, has returned home after spending the last 10 seasons of his career in Germany.

The 30-year-old most recently played for Hertha BSC after stints at FC Ingolstadt 04, FSV Frankfurt and Borussia Monchengladbach.

Capped 65 times by the Socceroos, Leckie scored 10 goals from 139 Bundesliga appearances and netted a further 21 times in the second tier.

Now back in the city that started his football journey, Leckie cannot wait to ply his trade in front of his family and friends for the first time in his professional career.

“It's strange to me. I've been away for a long time and I've actually never played professionally here in Melbourne,” Leckie told Melbourne City media.

“I moved to Adelaide in the A-League before heading overseas so I’m looking forward to seeing how it is.

“I’m excited for my family to watch me live. It's been a long time so it’s nice to be back in Australia with friends and family.”

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Leckie, who captained the Socceroos in two of the four matches during Australia’s most recent camp, agreed to terms on a three-year deal with City.

The former Adelaide United winger returns to the A-League in search of regular game time ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

He becomes the fourth player at City from the most recent Socceroos camp as he links up with Jamie Maclaren, Curtis Good and Connor Metcalfe.

While Leckie’s decision to join the club was kept secret, the City players in the Socceroos camp made sure that he made the right decision.

“It was kept secret until it was properly done,” Leckie explained.

“I was actually not aware that they knew or had an idea but obviously there was a bit of talk going around the club, so they had a bit of banter with me by saying things like ‘see you next year’.

“It was obvious that they had a bit of an idea and by then it was basically done anyway so there was a bit of banter.”

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