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Markel Susaeta is still building fitness but coach Erick Mombaerts says the Melbourne City attacker could yet become the best player in the A-League.

Melbourne City coach Erick Mombaerts says recruit Markel Susaeta could become the best player in the A-League once he fully settles into the competition.

The former Athletic Bilbao attacker played his first full game in last week's derby and has built fitness across his four appearances.

"With the talent and with his experience, yes I think so (Susaeta can be the best player in the league) because not too many players have played more than 500 games in La Liga," Mombaerts said.

"He's adapted well to our style of play.

"I want to congratulate him because he's had not too much time to prepare and he's started to play very early and he played 90 minutes against Victory - it was amazing because he didn't have too many training sessions with us.

"I'm sure we haven't seen the real Markel Susaeta - he will be better."

Susaeta has primarily featured on a wing since joining City but Mombaerts hinted at the possibility of shifting the 32-year-old into a central attacking role.

"Physically, he's getting better and better every week," Mombaerts said.

"He's really a good player, very smart, very mobile - he is a perfect player in our style of play.

"But maybe in the future, he will change position. Maybe it is more interesting to have this kind of player in the middle in the future."

City gave their big-game credentials a boost with their 2-1 win over Victory but now have to back that up when they travel to Auckland to face Wellington Phoenix on Saturday.

"We need to be consistent and to be consistent all the time is not easy - sometimes you are tired, sometimes the team has to change because of injured players or we have to change something in our style of play," Mombaerts said.

"So okay, we need to control the game, we need also to find a good balance between offensive style and defensive style.

"Yes, we have to work on this to play all the games at a good-range level - that is also important. To do this, it's more mental - so we have to be (at) a good mental level."