Football: Nathan Burns returns to Wellington Phoenix

Nathan Burns has returned to the Wellington Phoenix. Photo / Sarah Ivey

The undoubted star of the Wellington Phoenix's 2014-15 A-League season Nathan Burns has returned to the club on a two-year deal.

The 29-year-old Australian was a fan favourite for the Phoenix, scoring 14 goals in 24 appearances, and general manager David Dome said his return was a signal of intent by the club.

PLAYER NEWS | Delighted to have secured the signature of @nathanburns10 for the next two years - full story to come! #COYN #ERereTeKeo pic.twitter.com/o6kJUY0gPt

— Wellington Phoenix 🔥 (@WgtnPhoenixFC) December 29, 2017

"We're absolutely delighted to have Nathan back," Dome said, "he's a player with a top, top pedigree, a tremendous work ethic and ambition to succeed and he's somebody that's synonymous with some of the best times we've seen at this club."

After leaving the Phoenix in 2015, Burns took up an opportunity to play for Tokyo FC in Japan's J-League. However he wasn't able to replicate his A-League form, scoring just three times in 26 appearances before moving on to Sanfrecce Hiroshima in July this year where he didn't make an appearance.

However, he had shown in the past what he was capable of and Dome said the signing was a "real feather in our cap."

"Nathan is a player that any A-League club would want."

The Phoenix are bottom of the table heading into the new year with just one win from their 11 matches.

"We're not accepting our current position on the table, we haven't given up on this season. We've gone through a major rebuild of our footballing department and it's so positive to see that quality players still want to buy-in into what we're doing," said Dome.

Burns will miss the team's next two matches, but will be available to play for the side in their January 10 fixture against Melbourne Victory in Wellington.