Perth Glory's marquee signing Mile Sterjovski has revealed how coach Dave Mitchell was the major factor for him returning to Australia.

The former Derby County forward undertook his first training session with the Glory yesterday and afterwards said that it was Mitchell who influenced him to come to the A-League.

"I've known Mitch for a long time and he was the one that gave me my breakthrough when I was young," Sterjovski said.

"(So) it was a factor in me signing here (along with) the fact that Jacob Burns has signed and Andy Todd, players that I've known and I respect.

"I think those factors played a big part in me signing here and I can see that the teams going to be strong and competitive.

"I've been keeping tabs on the league since it started and I know that Perth's been underperforming in the last few years and they're a big club that deserves to be up the top where they belong."