Western Sydney Wanderers sign Daniel Georgievski from Newcastle Jets

Western Sydney Wanderers coach Markus Babbel has made one of his first signings as he seeks to overhaul his squad.

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Five years ago, when Daniel Georgievski signed his first A-League contract with Melbourne Victory, he took a trip home to find a bunch of relatives wearing Western Sydney jerseys.

The Blacktown-born full-back had just returned from a seven-year stint playing in Europe and quietly joined Kevin Muscat’s big guns south of the border.

Not that his extended family knew right away.

“When I came back to Sydney to see everyone my cousins rocked up in Wanderers jerseys and told me I’d picked the wrong club,” Georgievski said.

“They supported them even before I was in Australia. But my parents don’t support anyone other than wherever I’m playing.”

Now he’s back in the city he left as an 18-year-old, finally wearing the red and black on a two-year move he hopes will not only calm the family football feud but also offer a compelling new chapter to his increasingly well-travelled career.

Daniel Georgievski has signed a two-year deal with the Wanderers.

In the ultimate familial sacrifice, some of Georgievski’s relatives eventually peeled themselves away from the Wanderers to follow the path of the Marconi Stallions junior and Macedonian international.

First at Victory, where he won the 2014-15 A-League double and 2015 FFA Cup, and won the 2016-17 the Joe Marston Medal despite losing that grand final.

Then to Newcastle where, in his first season, he was part the club’s remarkable wooden-spoon-to-grand-final run only to lose that controversial VAR-influenced decider against the club he’d just left.

Indeed, every campaign since Georgievski first moved to Romania in 2012 has produced either a trophy, close brush with a title or an Asian Champions League knockout-stage run.

“In that sense this year (missing the finals) was one of the hardest I’ve had to swallow in my career,” he said.

Daniel Georgievski in action for Newcastle. Picture: Getty Images

And even though the vibe in the Hunter remained great, the Jets only offered him a one-year extension.

So when Markus Babbel came calling with a two-year deal at the turn of the new year he snapped it up.

Now, reunited with former Victory assistant Jean-Paul de Marigny, he’ll return with a clutch of zealous fans in tow - even if it is just for the blood link.

“They’re now getting back to Parramatta where they had their best years,” he said.

“To be a part of that is a big thing.”