The 21-year-old is now playing his club football for Russian first division outfit Alania Vladikavkaz but spent last season with A-League champions Brisbane Roar, for whom he scored 12 goals in their march to the title.
That form saw him named in the 2010-11 A-League All-Star Team and his efforts have now been recognised by the Australian Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), who have shortlisted 12 players for the PFA Footballer of the Year award and a further 10 for the Harry Kewall medal.
Nominated by the PFA Awards Committee, which is made up of some of Australia’s recently-retired greats including Paul Okon, Tony Vidmar, Mark Bosnich, Stan Lazaridis, Zeljko Kalac and Craig Moore, the 22 names are now being voted on by more than 300 professional based in the A-League and abroad.
The players will be asked to consider their peers’ performances for club and country in the 2010-11 season and vote for the stars they deem most worthy of the awards.
The winners will be announced at the Australian Football Awards in Sydney on October 4.
There is no shortlist for the PFA Women’s Footballer of the Year award, with all Australian players being asked to vote for their top three most outstanding peers.
PFA Footballer of the Year Nominations
Thomas Broich (Brisband Roar, Australia)
Tim Cahill (Everton, England)
Brett Emerton (Blackburn Rovers, England)
Harry Kewell (Galatasaray, Turkey)
Matt McKay (Brisbane Roar, Australia)
Lucas Neill (Galatasaray, Turkey)
Marcos Flores (Adelaide United, Australia)
Brett Holman (AZ, Holland)
Josh Kennedy (Nagoya Grampus, Japan)
Sasa Ognenovski (Seongnam Chunma, Korea Republic)
Mark Schwarzer (Fulham, England)
Luke Wilkshire (Dinamo Moscow, Russia)
PFA Harry Kewell Medal Nominations
Kosta Barbarouses (Brisbane Roar, Australia)
Mustafa Amini (Central Coast Mariners, Australia)
Oliver Bozanic (Central Coast Mariners, Australia)
Kerem Bulut (FK Mlada Boleslav, Czech Republic)
Luke Devere (Brisbane Roar, Australia)
Robbie Kruse (Melbourne Victory, Australia)
Matthew Leckie (Adelaide United, Australia)
Tommy Oar (FC Utrecht, The Netherlands)
Nikita Rukuvytsya (Hertha BSC, Germany)
Matt Ryan (Central Coast Mariners, Australia)
Previous Winners
PFA Footballer of the Year: Mark Schwarzer (Fulham, 2010), Tim Cahill (Everton, 2009)
PFA Harry Kewell Medal: Mitch Langerak (Melbourne Victory, 2010), Nikita Rukavytsya (Perth Glory, 2009)
PFA Women’s Footballer of the Year: Servet Uzunlar (Sydney FC, 2010)