The 22-year old has been training with the Mariners for weeks recently and joins recent signing Oliver Bozanic for Alen Stajcic's rebuild on the coast.

He returns to Australia after spending the last five years in the Netherlands with FC Groningen and SC Cambuur. 

"It's massive for me to help me move forward in my professional career," Bouman said.

"I used to watch football all the time and come to Mariners games every once in a while, so to be able to join this club is huge for me.

"The training period has been great for me to come in and work with the team, form a relationship with Staj and learn the way they want to play."

Bouman is Dutch-born and grew up in Sydney, playing for Manly United and Blacktown City as a junior before heading back to the Netherlands in 2014. 

As a number 10 and centre-forward, Bouman played close to 100 matches for FC Groningen's youth sides scoring 23 goals and assisting 11. 

He earned himself a move to second division club SC Cambuur in the hope he'd find first team football, but the Aussie only managed 11 games for their U21 side. 

The Mariners moved quickly to fill the void left by their former striker Jordan Murray who joined Indian club Kerala Blasters earlier this month.  

Central Coast currently have Bouman and scholarship player Dylan Ruiz-Diaz as their striking options with club stalwart Matt Simon expected to be announced in a dual player/coaching role soon.

Olyroos boss Graham Arnold has taken a shine to the young forward, selecting him for their Olympic qualifying tournament in Thailand in January. Bouman featured in five of the six matches that saw Australia qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. 

Stajcic says his Olyroos credentials encouraged him to take a chance on Bouman.

"Being part of the Olyroos side that had secured qualification for Tokyo gives an indication of how highly regarded he is here in Australia and we're very excited to have secured him for next season," he said. 

Bouman will be using the much needed game time to prepare himself to be front and centre for Arnold as he looks to pick his squad for Olyroos friendly matches in November and re-scheduled Olympics next year.