Talia Younis is Western Sydney through and through and the 17-year-old football sensation has no plans of trading her red and black jersey for anything else — just yet anyway.

The rising star, who has remarkably just finished her third ALW season, has signed a one-year extension with Western Sydney Wanderers.

Younis, a talented midfielder, made 17 appearances this season, scoring three goals.

She grew up in Western Sydney — kicking a ball around the backyard with her two older brothers Anthony and Marcus.

Anthony plays in the NPL while Marcus plays for Melbourne City in the A-League.

Her dad Ray Younis is also a strength and conditiomning coach with the Wanderers men’s A-League team.

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Younis joined the Western Sydney Wanderers Academy — training with the boys — when she was 12.

“It was a really good experience, I feel like going through that pathway helped me grow as a player and as an individual, the amazing coaching staff guided me all the way through,” Younis said.

“It’s a privilege to wear the badge and something I don’t take lightly. I’m very grateful to be staying in the red and black and am excited to see how this season goes.”

Younis made her ALW debut in October 2023 – she was 14 years and 361 days old – setting a new record, at the time, for the youngest player to play in the league.

In February she became the youngest player in ALW history to reach 50 games.

At the end of season club awards Younis won both the ALW Members’ Player of the Year award and the Player of the Year award.

While Wanderers struggled this season with just five wins from 20 games Younis’ continued to grow her highlights reel.

In March she went viral after executing an insane flick trick to beat a Melbourne Victory defender.

Younis said it was the hours spent playing in the backyard with her brothers that really fostered her love of football. After executing her flick trick she credited the move to her brother saying she had seen it on one of his highlights from his games.

The teen said she had gained a lot more confidence this season. She also made the difficult decision to not start Year 12 and just focus on her football.

“I’ve started playing with freedom and I hope to take that into the next season as well,” Younis said.

Wanderers ALW head coach Geoff Abrahams has watched Younis’ whole journey.

“Talia is someone I’ve personally known since she was kid coming along to watch her brother’s games when I was coaching him, so now to see the player she has become is incredibly special,” Abrahams said.

“I’ve watched her grow from a talented young footballer into a player that can genuinely dominate games at A-League level.

“She’s a proud Western Sydney local who has come through both our Academy pathways and excelled in all environments.

“In my opinion, Talia is the most talented young player in Australia and we’re incredibly proud that she’ll continue her journey with the Wanderers for another season.”

A regular in the Junior and Young Matildas set-up Younis has big dreams of playing for the Matildas and overseas as well.

But she knows she has to tick all the boxes first.

“The ALW is a really good development league,” Younis said.

“My ambitions are to go overseas and this is just a really good stepping stone to get there.”

While the league is home to many rising stars some very experienced ones like Matildas Tameka Yallop and Michelle Heyman also play in the competition.

“The Matildas are top players and I feel like it’s a really good opportunity to play against them and see what they’re like because at the end of the day the end goal is to play for the Matildas.”