It has been a busy off-season for Melbourne Victory after back-to-back Grand Finals and some notable departures. aleagues.com.au looks into what is ahead for the four-time champions in 2025-26 and the players to watch.
In the moments after Melbourne Victory’s narrow Grand Final defeat to their city rivals in May, Arthur Diles sat down to front the press.
What he said in the wake of a Melbourne Derby defeat was telling.
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“It’s a result of one match that didn’t go our way, and it doesn’t cut short the success of our season,” Diles said in a press conference as the four-time champions were left to reflect on what could have been in an historic decider played in front of a record crowd at AAMI Park.
“We’ve had a fantastic season to to get here. I can’t thank my playing group enough, my coaching staff and everyone involved. It’s not easy to get to a Grand Final. Everyone’s aware of that. It’s definitely not easy at all. People have worked tirelessly in terms of staff, the players have worked really hard to get in.
“In the end, it’s a game, and we didn’t get it. We fell a little bit short, not through a lack of trying, and that’s football, but there’s a bit of sadness for the time being.
“But we wake up tomorrow morning, we look forward again and we bounce back.”
Facing the press after a heart-breaking result, Diles was impressive. It said a lot about the rookie head coach, who was thrust into the hot seat after Patrick Kisnorbo’s shock departure five months earlier. He oversaw just two defeats from the final 10 games of the regular season before upstaging Western Sydney Wanderers and stunning history-making premiers Auckland FC en route to the big dance.
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The takeaways from the aforementioned quotes were; “it doesn’t cut short the success of our season” and “we look forward again and we bounce back”.
This is a Melbourne Victory team that has reached consecutive Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final appearances without getting their hands on a Championship. It is actually three straight trips to a decider if you include the 2024 Australia Cup showpiece.
A lot has changed since the Grand Final loss to Melbourne City, on and off the pitch.
A-Leagues icon Bruno Fornaroli retired from professional football along with Socceroo Mitch Langerak, while Ryan Teague, Kasey Bos and Daniel Arzani earned moves abroad.
Teague and Bos left notable holes in Victory’s XI, but they have been active in the transfer market while retaining Socceroo Nishan Velupillay and Co.
When it comes to filling the Teague void, there is star recruit Denis Genreau, who is back in Australia with a point to prove. The Socceroo is back Down Under from Spanish second-tier side Deportivo La Coruna, having helped Toulouse clinch promotion to Ligue 1 in 2021-22, while he was part of the squad that won the 2022-23 Coupe de France – the club’s first.
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The 26-year-old looms as the prime candidate to team up with Victory Medallist Jordi Valadon.
Valadon has cemented himself as a bona fine star in this Victory team, after playing a key role in consecutive Grand Final runs. He is also emerging as the next Australian star to keep an eye on amid mounting interest in local talent from abroad.
He quietly became one of Victory’s most important players. Now, talk around Valadon’s growing louder and the 22-year-old will again be vital to how the club perform under Diles.
It is not just Genreau added to the mix in 2025-26. There is FIFA World Cup and UEFA Champions League winner Juan Mata, who often operates higher up the pitch but can sit deeper, as well as former Adelaide United star Louis D’Arrigo.
When looking to the left-back position after academy graduate Bos’ big switch to Bundesliga outfit Mainz, there are a couple of impressive options. From returning Socceroo Jason Davidson to Franco Lino, who is back at Victory on loan from Norwegian outfit FK Viking following 18 months abroad.
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While Victory have a sprinkle of stardust to their squad in 2025-26, a “very deliberate” strategy has more academy graduates to emerge this season, like Valadon and Velupillay have in the past.
Jack Mihailidis, Daniel Lazarevski and Kayne Razmovski have been promoted, while Luka Kolić and Daniel Graskoski have re-signed following the arrivals of youngsters Emre Saglam (loan), Oliver Dragicevic and Xavier Stella.
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“It comes from the board, director of football, A-League head coach,” Victory’s director of football John Didulica told aleagues.com.au recently. “Everyone’s aligned, and it’s very much a club approach. I think you’re seeing around world football that is the best way.
“Everyone has to work together. We’re pushing towards Arthur’s vision, which is in line with the club vision. I think from that side we’re working really, really hard on the profile of player that works in the A-League and that works in the first team.
“We don’t want academy players to just go into the first team to make up the numbers. We want them to go there and be successful.
“Another example again is the Jordi Valadons of the world. Played NPL3 and again, as he’s coming in, the part of his sort of program was we want him to be successful. Then he wins a Victory Medal after playing NPL3 two years ago.
“Again, very deliberate from day one of when he sat in the office the club had a vision for him and his pathway and moved towards that.”
