03 Sep Victory secure signing of Spanish midfielder Raul Baena

Melbourne Victory have confirmed the signing of Spanish defensive midfielder Raul Baena on a one-year loan deal from Granada CF.

Baena has played over 150 La Liga games for Espanyol and Rayo Vallecano, before captaining Granada in Segunda Division last season.

The 29-year-old is the reigning A-League champions’ fourth major addition this off-season along with Keisuke Honda, Ola Toivonen and Georg Niedermeier.

Victory coach Kevin Muscat says Baena will bring a wealth of midfield nous and strong leadership to his squad.

“Raul is a very well-rounded midfielder who also has great leadership qualities," Muscat told the Victory website.

“He is the kind of player who can control the tempo of a game with his work rate and passing.

“I’m really pleased to have locked in so many quality additions with time to integrate them into the playing group.

“We identified the key areas of the side that we wanted to bolster and worked diligently to bring in players of a high calibre."