Melbourne Victory captain Adrian Leijer said the squad have been winding up transfer target Marco Rojas on the quality of the clubs he has been linked with.
Melbourne Victory captain Adrian Leijer said the squad have been winding up transfer target Marco Rojas on the quality of the clubs he has been linked with.
New Zealand international Rojas has been the star attraction for Victory this season, scoring 12 goals and six assists, to draw the attention of the likes of Premier League giants Liverpool and Serie A champions Juventus during the January transfer window.
But Leijer joked that the playing group made the most of Rojas’ more recent links to Red Bull Salzburg – not exactly a European giant – which could perhaps serve the magical attacker with motivation to continue his standout season.
Leijer added former Victory midfielder Richard Kitzbichler was on the coaching staff at Salzburg, making the situation all the more enjoyable for the Melbourne boys.
“We had a bit of a laugh this morning, I think Red Bull Salzburg is one of them, so we said Kitzbichler might be back in the stadium … he’s coaching for them, and he used to play for us season one,” Leijer said with a laugh on Thursday.
“It’s all part of it, we did say to him ‘A few weeks ago it was Liverpool, Juventus, and now those clubs are a bit smaller than those’ so he has to start scoring some more goals.”
On more serious matters, Leijer conceded Rojas, 21, did a good job of staying grounded amongst a whirlwind of rumours of interest from European clubs.
“He deals with it well, he’s got a good head on his shoulders. I suppose we try to keep him grounded a little bit, if you’re playing well it’s a good problem to have,” he said.
“Obviously he’s doing well, he’s scoring goals and arguably he’s the best player in the competition. He’s going to get that attention, it’s a problem you’d rather have than not.”
Leijer said he believed Victory could have scored a flurry of goals last time out against Saturday’s opponents Central Coast, and said that belief will give them confidence ahead of their venture to Gosford.
“Looking back, especially the game in Tasmania, I think we dominated,” he said.
“We probably should have put three or four past them in the first half, so I think we take that into the game. We take confidence out of that performance, and know that if we do our best football we can get a result up there.”
