Melbourne Victory’s A-League aspirations could go up in smoke after the club finally allowed title-winning captain Mark Milligan to walk out of the door.
Just a week after the A-League club’s board voted to decline offers for the 32-year-old Socceroo from Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ahli, Milligan has now been sold to the title-chasing club from Jeddah.
Money was the decisive factor – for both the club and the player.
A third bid well beyond the $300,000 offer that Victory originally resisted changed the club’s approach.
And Milligan, in the twilight of his career, couldn’t resist a pay-day from the cashed-up club, coached by Ukrainian legend Sergei Rebrov.
Coach Kevin Muscat lamented the club’s hand being forced.
“We obviously did everything we could to keep him, but Mark was adamant this was an opportunity he wanted to take up,” he said.
“It’s a very disappointing outcome, but these things happen in football so we must move forward.”
Six days ago, Muscat said “significant planning, time and effort went into building our squad for this season and Mark’s signing was an integral part of that, so the club is not prepared to entertain offers for his services”.
Milligan’s departure will force a re-think in Victory’s midfield.
Muscat brought the three-time World Cup attendee back to Melbourne in the hope of closing the gap to Sydney FC.
He slotted into midfield at the expense of Leigh Broxham, with hopes high that after seven wins in the last 12 matches, the triumvirate of Milligan, Carl Valeri and James Troisi was beginning to bear fruit.
Recent signing Terry Antonis is likely to step into his position in the short term.
But Victory also have an Asian Champions League campaign to think about, which begins in a fortnight, and will consider their options in the transfer market.
And they’ll have cash to spend.
Reported figures for Milligan’s transfer range between $500,000 and $1million, which would make it the second time in three years that Victory have banked a healthy profit from the star.
After captaining the club to the 2015 A-League premiership and championship double, Milligan was sold to UAE club Baniyas.
He returned to Victory this season after the Socceroos’ fell agonisingly short of a world ranking that would have allowed him to bypass visa regulations and gain easier passage to his destination of choice; English football.
Should Victory go to the transfer market to replace Milligan, they won’t be constrained by the salary cap given the Socceroo was on a marquee deal.
Milligan’s decision to leave will boost his own bank balance, it does risk to his place in the Socceroos setup during a World Cup year.
josh
Guest
Berisha. It's on Facebook.
That A-League Fan
Roar Guru
Milligan oughta move on. He'll be 33 soon anyway.
Realfootball
Guest
Nice piece of business for Victory. Milligan, 32 and not playing all that well. Antonis slots straight in. They were always prepared to let him go - they were just making sure they got as much cash as they could. Good on em.
j,binnie
Guest
Waz - What my memory recalled was not a laughing matter at the time,in fact, if what had what occurred "outside the game" the consequences would and could have been much more severe. Cheers jb.
Nemesis
Guest
Well, MVFC rejected a $300k offer. Even that would've been fantastic for a player who will be worth $0 in 9 matches.
Waz
Guest
ha ha, you and your memory. I haven’t seen anything from the club that says $1m it’s all in the media. As a Victory fan I’d be very happy with $1m, okay with a figure less than that but unhappy if it’s a bargain price.
punter
Guest
I'd agree, great piece of work by the MV owners, get a $1M for a player worth 0 in the market in 6 months, plus based on form MV not winning anything this year anyway.
Onside
Guest
Thanks .
Nemesis
Guest
Milligan's contract expires in June 2018, so he'd have left for $0 Transfer Fee. MV gets a $1 million cheque for letting him got early. I'd say most MV fans are overjoyed by this deal. I'm sure the MV owners are overjoyed also. Definitely, Mark Milligan is overjoyed. The only person who seems unhappy is the coach. Don't know why he's upset. Milligan has been ineffective this season. Missed many games with the National Team. got sent off early against Jets & missed the next match. The ALeague season is over for MV, so no harm done. We might miss Milligan during the ACL campaign, but, even if we get out of the Group, he'd be gone by the Knock out stage.
Onside
Guest
Is the transfer more problematic (trendy word) for MV, because HAL is a summer comp.
Paul
Guest
There were reports of Milligan falling out with one player. Any ideas on who?
Griffo
Roar Guru
Victory have seemed well organised for most of the A-League but perhaps not as much so as Sydney if purely looking at squads and standings. Is it more the coach pulling the strings, or changes in the football department? That would be an interesting answer for where Victory (and other clubs) could look to challenge Sydney in the near future.
Nemesis
Guest
The figure will be available in the FY2018 MVFC Financial Reports which will be lodged with ASIC and can be purchased from that organisation in about 8-10 months. I have the Annual Financial Statements for Victory for the past 2 Financial Years.
Griffo
Roar Guru
I suppose it doesn't surprise me as Milligan has always looked abroad mid-contract but at this stage it will be healthy for his retirement fund which you cannot fault someone for doing. While hard for the club to refuse in the end, I'm sure Victory have a list of players they could call on for these contingencies to replace him, rather than be reactionary.
Griffo
Roar Guru
would knowing the figure also help other clubs realise potential revenues from player transfers?
j,binnie
Guest
Waz -Careful my friend, that was one of the main reasons for the governmental inquiry into the management practices in the NSL. and you know what happened when that investigation concluded. Cheers jb..
Waz
Guest
Well it wouldn’t be the first time a reported transfer fee was more than double the actual fee. There’s no reason for clubs to keep these things confidential, Victory’s members have a right to know what the fee was and it should be released, otherwise it’s just pointless speculation.
Nemesis
Guest
According to Fairfax Media, a "$1 million transfer" was the deal to get Milligan to move from MVFC to Saudi Arabian giants Al-Ahli. http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/melbourne-victory-agree-to-sell-mark-milligan-to-saudi-arabian-club-alahli-20180128-h0pi4x.html
Onside
Guest
"And they’ll have cash to spend. " How much ?
j,binnie
Guest
Somewhere ,someplace, there is another Adrian out there and it is in that standard of player Victory should be "dabbling" . All the payers mentioned as possible replacements to Milligan in this article are all either in the veteran stage of their careers or fall into the "been there ,tried, and come back" brigade. As the runaway best supported, and apparently best run, club in the HAL, it is important that Victory be seen to be taking up the challenge as laid down by Sydney FC these last 2 seasons. Failure to do so can only mean further long term problems for the HAL and the FFA. Cheers jb..