The Brisbane Roar have confirmed that former A-League Golden Boot winner Besart Berisha will be leaving the club at the end of the current season to join the Melbourne Victory.
Victory have picked up the star striker on a two-year deal after Berisha decided not to re-sign with the current league leaders.
28-year-old Berisha, who has scored 41 goals in 65 games for Brisbane, will head to Melbourne after his current deal expires as the Victory’s International Marquee for the next two seasons.
Victory coach Kevin Muscat welcomed the signing of one of the A-League’s most prolific scorers.
“Besart has been performing at the highest level week-in, week-out for Brisbane and has caused plenty of headaches for opposition defenders and coaches, including myself,” Muscat said.
“He’s a proven goal-scorer and a player that we can’t wait to welcome to Melbourne Victory.
“It’s certainly well documented how competitive Besart is, and that is something every A-League fan surely admires about him.”
Roar coach Mike Mulvey admitted salary cap constraints played a part in the club’s inability to keep the Albanian.
“With the salary cap we have in this league, the ins and outs of players are a fact of life,” Mulvey said.
“Brisbane Roar has been aware that this was a possibility and we are committed to bringing in a quality striker for the next A-League season.”
Berisha currently sits atop the A-League’s goal-scoring tally with seven for the season, and scored both Brisbane’s goals in their 2012 grand final against Perth Glory.
Carl
Roar Rookie
There are transfer fees in the A-League, its just not normal as players are usually only taken at the end of a contract, also they're usually negligibly small.
Ian
Guest
True - Kruse was found by Brisbane and developed there but went off the rails and 'got back on track' at MV. Langerak actually I'm not 100% on either, he was born in Emerald, so laying claim as a QLDer. But he did play at MV for a while after being at Bundaberg and the AIS (that's from wikipedia). so he did play at MV but was never 1st choice keeper, as Theo was first choice. Perhaps you need to take the 'top' out of 'top dog'
Ballymore
Guest
Perhaps I was being too kind, but Kruse was going nowhere before he arrived in Melbourne, so I feel they "developed" him. Langerak I know less about. Strengthens my argument MVFC are not "top dog" or "special".
Casey Novak
Roar Rookie
Haha Glad someone said it Ian, the only youth production at the Victory is through there Chequebook.
Casey Novak
Roar Rookie
Smeltz in full form, like when he was playing for Gold Coast?? or Berisha in full form?? Tough question both excellent strikers
Ian
Guest
What's wrong with Broich as marquee? Broich was extremely well known in Germany anyway. Broich is the central playmaker in our team. They shifted him there in 2012 and he is worth every cent. Berisha isn't in our marquee spot. We couldn't match the salary MV offered by putting Berisha into their international marquee spot. its not dodging the cap when every club has access to two marquee spots
Ian
Guest
Youth production line..............Kruse and Langerak are QLD products
My mate James
Guest
Why shouldn't clubs use their marquee spots to keep match-winners?
My mate James
Guest
Berisha is to occupy the international marquee spot, so Contreras is gone at season's end. Not many MV supporters rate Contreras.
Chopper
Guest
The amazing thing about the salary cap and marquee spots is that even though there is a limit on the salary cap there is not one on the marquee therefore a club could pay one player more than the whole team. The salary cap is introduced to make sure a club lives within it's means? Then that same club could destroy itself by splashing out huge money on one player. Now the amazing thing was that clubs originally were to use the marquee spot to bring stars into the A league such as Yorke, Del Piero, Heskey and Ono and now they are using it to dodge the salary cap. After all Broich, Hernandez, Flores and now Berisha were not known in football circles prior to coming to the A league. Is the A league a victim of its own insular success? In other words can you name any other country where Broich, Hernandez, Flores and Berisha would be named as marquee's? I think this leads to a complete rethink of the wage structure and whether there is a relevance to the salary cap at all.
The Bear
Guest
Bravo. Time for MVFC to pull its head in a bit ;)
nordster
Guest
It is silly to have any recruiting decisions be affected by a salary cap i agree....especially one that is openly attempting to level out the playing field....in sport, this is heresy! :) Just on his career...i do always keep a little peeved when people say a footballers career ends when they hang up the boots. I think most people these days have to shift careers mid stream so to speak. Berish the brand has plenty of post playing career potential! Or even just stacking shelves or whatever like the rest of us.
nordster
Guest
I was torn between them and Wikileaks due to poor Julian being stuck in london haha But yes i do like Leyonhjelm ...should be a good time to be a libertarian with the new senate!
Doc
Roar Rookie
We don't want any of your players because they're all garbage.
Patrick Hargreaves
Roar Guru
Yes. Contreas gonna have to go.
Ballymore
Guest
I have wondered for some time whether Brisbane's on-field excellence has covered deficiencies in Head Office. Possible examples of this could be: - The 2013 Champions League saga. - Failure to capitalise on a wildly successful 2010-2012 period. Mediocre crowds throughout etc. - Poor retention of critical employees - The appointment of Rado Vidosic, whose only qualification seemed to be he was cheap, available and familiar with the club. It is hard to judge from the outside of course, but they probably haven't leveraged their success as they could have.
Passionate_Aussie
Roar Rookie
Perhaps Brisbane has the on-field part down Pat but it's the business off-field that's lacking?
Passionate_Aussie
Roar Rookie
That's a positive.
Ballymore
Guest
They would not be eligible for the Socceroos However, they would no longer take up a foreign spot.
Ballymore
Guest
Internationally, we know that: - Feeder clubs are in a lower division than the parent club (No) - There is an "understanding" between the clubs, or in stronger cases an equity relationship (one owns the other) (No) - The parent has right of first reversal on the feeder's players (No) However in Australia: - Both teams compete in the same division - Both teams have won the same number of Championships - The feeder beat the parent 3-0 at the parent's home ground earlier this month - This is no shared resources - A player released by the feeder due to discipline / performance was picked up the parent anyway? So apart from the obvious recruitment of players from BR to MV, what makes you define this as "feeder / parent " relationship? Alternatively, you could develop your own opinions, rather than regurgitating Fox Sports.