Melbourne Victory coach Ange Postecoglou says he is not worried about the contract situation involving young gun Marco Rojas.
Melbourne Victory coach Ange Postecoglou says he is not worried about the contract situation involving young gun Marco Rojas.
Rojas has been sensational for Victory this season, scoring nine goals in 12 matches, including five in his last five.
The Kiwi hit two goal-of-the-season contenders in Victory's 3-2 win over the Newcastle Jets on Friday and his outstanding form has ignited debate about his future and the potential for a move abroad.
The 21-year-old winger will see his contract at Victory expire in April and the club would dearly love to tie him down with a new deal, even if it would only stop him moving overseas during the January transfer period.
A fresh contract for Rojas would undoubtedly bump up any potential transfer fee received from an overseas club, but Postecoglou did not seem fazed by the issue after training at Gosch's Paddock on Monday and says he is "comfortable" with where the club is at.
"It doesn't keep me awake at night," Postecoglou told reporters.
"That's something that is an ongoing process ... the process will take care of itself. I'm not surprised (by the interest in Rojas). He has had a decent start to the year and he is scoring some cracking goals and playing well.
"Will he go overseas? I'm sure he will at some stage, maybe even his holidays this year. It's not something that is at the forefront of my attention right now.
"From my point of view, the key thing is to keep developing Marco and for him to keep enjoying his football and doing well and the Melbourne Victory Football Club benefiting from that. I'd love him to stay another year and hopefully keep developing him."
Postecoglou confirmed that Adrian Leijer would return in central defence for Victory's match against the Western Sydney Warriors on Tuesday after the club captain missed the recent win over the Jets due to suspension.
Utility Leigh Broxham filled in for Leijer and acquitted himself well but Postecoglou said it was important that the skipper returned immediately.
"Adrian is our best defender and we need to put him back in there ... he will go back to playing centre-half," he said.
"Leigh was fantastic and he did a great job for us and that's full credit to him. Leigh will start on the bench tomorrow but no doubt he'll make a contribution at some point, as he has all year."
Postecoglou is wary of a fresh Western Sydney side, with manager Tony Popovic making six changes to the club's starting line-up for their 1-1 draw in Perth on Thursday.
And although Aaron Mooy will miss due to suspension, a host of key players including Shinji Ono and Mark Bridge will return for the in-form Wanderers.
"They had a trip over to Perth which is always a tough trip with a short turnaround," he said.
"So it probably made sense to drop a few or leave a few out. The guys who came in, did a good job for them. It didn't really affect their performance. We expect them to be strong tomorrow."