City unveiled goalkeeper Gianmarco D’Oria as its first player signing on Monday.

The 24-year-old Italian is a former youth player with Serie A club Empoli and most recently played with Lanciotto Campi Bisenzio in Prato.

“The importance of a goalkeeper is a bit like saying how important is the foundation of a house?,’’ Soncin said.

“We want to build from the ground up and the foundation has to be right. Using that analogy as far as building a team is concerned, we want to start from the back and make sure that foundation is solid.

“We want to score goals, but if we can’t, we need to make sure our opponents can’t score.

“For that, the goalkeeper is number one. We build from the back with a strong backline, then midfield and so on.”

D’Oria has been in Australia for two months and is excited about the prospect of playing for the new-look Bendigo City FC in the National Premier Leagues Victoria.

“Bendigo is a beautiful city and I’m very happy to have this opportunity,’’ D’Oria said.

“I’m very happy to have this opportunity to improve myself.

“Step by step I think we can build a big family with this club.”

D’Oria will live in Bendigo and take up a goalkeeping coaching role with the Bendigo City FC junior squads.

D'Oria's signing comes hot on the heels of the announcement of Greg Thomas as new senior coach.

Originally from Sydney, Thomas had a playing stint in Hong Kong before spending the past 12 years in Queensland with the Rochedale Rovers and the Queensland Lions.

Thomas was assistant coach with the Lions, who won the Brisbane Premier League title last year.

He’s also a former winner of the Golden Boot in the BPL.

Thomas expects to have more player signings early in the new year.