New Zealand international Sarpreet Singh will rejoin his former Wellington Phoenix side, six years after leaving the A-League club to play abroad.
Singh (26) was unveiled as the Phoenix’s latest signing shortly before the side played their Waitangi Day fixture against Melbourne Victory at Sky Stadium.
The 26-cap All Whites midfielder is expected to be available for selection for the Phoenix game against Western Sydney Wanderers on Friday February 13, 2026.
Singh has been playing for Serbian SuperLiga club Bačka Topola, who he joined in mid-2025, after the expiry of his one-year contract with Portuguese second division club União de Leiria.
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His last appearance for Bačka Topola was in early November, and he will join the Phoenix on loan.
Singh was given a rapturous welcome home when he emerged from the players’ tunnel in the No. 9 shirt he’ll wear for the rest of the season
The crowd sees Sarpreet Singh coming out of the tunnel, and break into applause.
Singh’s decision to move back to New Zealand bolsters his chances of building his fitness and accruing game time ahead of the FIFA Men’s World Cup in June-July.
Auckland-born Singh joined the Phoenix youth team in 2015, after playing junior football for Auckland clubs Papatoetoe and Onehunga Sports.
After making more than 70 appearances for the Phoenix reserves and first team, he joined German giants Bayern Munich.
Singh scored seven goals in 22 appearances for Bayern Munich’s reserves but struggled to get into their first team.
After a long battle to regain fitness after a groin injury, Singh was hoping to reboot his career in Germany by joining Hansa.
However, he struggled for game time and in 2024, he moved to Portugal to join União de Leiria.
“I’m very happy to be back,” Singh said after the news of his arrival was shared with fans.
“The club means a lot to me, and I can’t wait to get started and meet everyone.
“The most important thing for me is to be in an environment where I’m enjoying it, having fun and being able just be free on the field.
“That’s when I play my best football and believe Wellington provides the best environment for that for me.
“The Phoenix have also made some good signings, and the club is really pushing hard to get to the finals.
“I feel like the group of players that have been put together now can do something special and I want to be part of that.”
All White Sarpreet Singh … glad to be back.
“I feel like I left as a boy and I’m returning as a more mature player.
“Throughout those years, I’ve learned a lot. I’ve had plenty of highs and a lot of lows as well.
“I’ve had to deal with many setbacks throughout my career, and I feel like with age, time and experience I’ve learnt a lot and I think I’m in a very good headspace and physically I’m very good as well.
“I feel like I’m a good age, I feel ready and I feel like my best years are still ahead of me.”
Phoenix coach Giancarlo Italiano jumped at the opportunity to sign Singh, having long been an admirer of him.
“We were very close to signing Sarpreet at the beginning of the season, and he was going to be a player that I was going to try to build a team around,” Italiano said.
“When he reached out about a loan move on Monday morning, I spoke to [director of football] Shaun Gill, by the afternoon we had approval from the football committee and we were able to get it done on Tuesday morning.
“He’s very creative, he likes to dribble and he’s a very smart player. Sarpreet’s also very experienced, having played in Germany, Portugal and now Serbia.
“He loves to counterpress too, which is something we do quite well, so he’s going to fit in very well stylistically.
“Having a player like Sarpreet for the business end of the season could be a deciding factor in whether we make the finals or not.”
This story was first published on February 6, 2026.