Asian club champions Western Sydney Wanderers said Sunday they had signed Japanese defender Yusuke Tanaka for their AFC Champions League title defence.

The Wanderers have agreed a short-term deal with Tanaka covering the group stage and potentially round-of-16 matches.

Tanaka, 28 joins the A-League club from J-League outfit Kawasaki Frontale, with whom he played 39 games in the 2014 season, including two ACL games against the Wanderers.

He previously played for Yokohama F Marinos between 2005 and 2010.

"Yusuke is a fantastic addition to our squad and brings a great deal of experience to the Wanderers," club chief executive John Tsatsimas said.

"He is a talented and capable defender who can play either side of defence and having seen first-hand his work rate we feel that he will fit into both our style of play and our team culture very well."

The Wanderers beat Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal 1-0 on aggregate in the final over two legs to become AFC Champions League winners in November only two years after they joined Australia's A-League.

The Wanderers had Japanese superstar Shinji Ono in their first two seasons in the A-League where he was an outstanding success.