Melbourne Victory is pleased to announce that Academy graduates Alex Menelaou, Luka Kolić and Daniel Graskoski have been elevated to the Isuzu UTE A-League Men’s squad for the 2024/25 season.
The trio have featured prominently in the Club’s strong Victorian Premier League 1 (VPL1) campaign to date, as the side continues its push towards promotion to the Victorian top tier.
20-year-old Menelaou is an attacking midfielder who captains the VPL1 side and has been a part of Victory’s Academy for the past three seasons, making 54 league appearances and scoring seven times.
Menelaou has starred in midfield for the Academy side and with the likes of Jordi Valadon has helped create a pipeline of talent from our Academy into the A-League team, after featuring for the first team on debut in the Club’s friendly against Manchester United in 2022 at the MCG.
19-year-old Kolić joined Joe Palatsides’ VPL1 side from Melbourne Knights at the conclusion of the 2023 season and has shone through in the Academy set-up during his time at the Club.
Kolić is a versatile midfielder whose goalscoring has been a feature in taking Victory to the top of the VPL1 table, scoring five times in 16 matches.
17-year-old Graskoski is the first 2007-born player signed professionally to the Club in its history. The goalkeeper has played across the VPL sides during his time at Victory and has also featured at youth international level.
Melbourne Victory Director of Football John Didulica said he was excited to continue the stream of players between the Academy and the first-team squad.
“It’s extremely rewarding for everybody at the Club to see these players distinguish themselves and earn professional contracts with the A-League Men’s team,” Didulica said.
“Each player has made significant sacrifices to get this opportunity and we are excited about what the future holds for each of them. Their performances, not only in guiding the Academy team to top spot in VPL1, but also working with the A-League team has meant they have earned these contracts through hard work and a commitment to continuous improvement.”
“We will now have at least eight Academy graduates contracted to the A-League Men’s team going into the new season, coming off the back of the sale of fellow graduate Franco Lino to Europe in January. This is a real credit to the work being done in the Academy space as well as the A-League coaches who are empowering these players through training and playing opportunities.”
Melbourne Victory Head Coach Patrick Kisnorbo said the group will be welcome additions to the A-League Men’s squad.
“We’re looking forward to having Alex, Luka and Daniel join the senior squad this season,” Kisnorbo said.
“All three players have trained with the first team before but to have them full-time in our squad will allow them to continue to build as footballers and develop as young adults.
“The Club has shown great progress in the Academy space over the past couple of seasons and I’m looking forward to seeing how this trio as well as all of the players in our VPL1 and Academy sides show they are ready to make the next step as footballers.”
The player will join the A-League Men’s side for the start of the pre-season ahead of the 2024/25 season on Wednesday 10 July.
