Former Melbourne Victory striker Andrew Nabbout trials with Newcastle Jets I photos | poll

Nabbout has been playing as a winger at Newcastle training this week, and Miller indicated he was keen to sign the 23-year-old before an A-League rival intervened.

“I think he can add value to the squad, if the decision goes that way,” Miller said after training on Thursday.

“When you identify a triallist, people recognise he’s on the market and maybe he’s not as big a risk as they first felt.

“We need to be clear in our decision by the end of the week.”

Nabbout played 36 games for Victory from 2012 to 2015, scoring five goals, before joining former Jets defender Taylor Regan at Malaysian second-tier club Negeri Sembilan this year.

Miller said Nabbout was a quick and powerful player who would complement the creative recruits he had brought to the club this year, including Devante Clut and Wayne Brown.

“Andrew was on the radar last year when Labinot Haliti was injured,” the coach said.

“At that point financially we couldn’t afford him, and he was always in the back of my mind in terms of balance of the squad.

“From what I see now we’ve got a lot of technical footballers who like to receive in front of the lines, but he’s got that raw pace and ability to play similar to Andrew Hoole in a wide area.

“Mentally he’s brought an edge to the group, physically he’s certainly got a presence.”

Miller said Nabbout fitted his recruitment strategy of acquiring more potential first-team starters in the squad.

“My emphasis was to change that ratio and have more starting footballers, and less of a support act, so to speak,” he said.

“Andrew doesn’t fall into that category at all. I see him challenging for a starting position if he was to join the club.”

Nabbout’s greatest moment in the A-League came in November 2012 when he came on in the 66th minute against rivals Sydney FC and scored a spectacular double to overcome a 2-0 deficit, including a winner in the 91st minute.

Miller said Nabbout, who is of Lebanese descent, had benefited from the coaching of Ange Postecoglou in Melbourne.

“He’s got that experience at Melbourne Victory, but it’s not only playing at a bigger club, it’s the reference points from a coaching perspective he’s had.

“The coaching he’s had from Ange Postecoglou, for example, he’s a very mature footballer.”

Nabbout fell out of favour with Postecoglou’s replacement at Victory, Kevin Muscat, and featured only four times in the first team in the 2014-15 season before being released in May last year.

He moved to Malaysia in January.

Miller said Nabbout could play in Wednesday night’s trial game against the Northern NSW NPL Select side at Magic Park if the Jets opted to sign him.

Meanwhile, young Jets defender Daniel Alessi is out for the season after tearing his ACL at training last week.

The 18-year-old, who signed in May from Western Sydney Wanderers, has had surgery.