The much-travelled Etienne Barbara will continue to prolong his football itinerary after deciding to play for Sporting Club Verl in Germany as from next season.

Barbara, 26, started his career with Floriana before joining Marsaxlokk and then Birkirkara. In summer of 2007, he left the Stripes to sign for Sliema Wanderers but his stay with the Blues did not last longer than his previous stints elsewhere as yesterday he opted to sign for SC Verle.

The German Regionalliga club reached an agreement with the Wanderers and Barbara signed a two-year contract. The Malta striker left a good impression on the SC Verl scouts who were monitoring his progress during the past season.

Barbara is expected to leave the islands next week for pre-season training. He will become the second Maltese international to ply his trade in the German division three after Andre Schembri who will be playing for Carl Zeiss Jena following his transfer from Eintracht Braunschweig a couple of weeks ago.

"I've played for different teams in Malta but this was always my ambition to continue my career abroad," Barbara said.

"Andre encouraged me to take up this challenge and I'm looking forward to it. I want to improve as a player and perhaps play more regularly in the national team. This will be a totally new experience for me and playing against Andre's team would be one of our highlights in the new season."

Meanwhile, insiders told The Times that Sliema will be looking to replace Barbara in the squad with the signing of a new foreign player after a trial period.

The Wanderers start their pre-season on July 7.