Melbourne Victory star Carlos Hernandez’s future is up in the air after the Costa Rican midfielder admitted on Friday he wasn’t sure if he would stay with the club beyond this season.
Melbourne Victory star Carlos Hernandez’s future is up in the air after the Costa Rican midfielder admitted on Friday he wasn’t sure if he would stay with the club beyond this season.
News Limited reported earlier in the day that Hernandez wanted to be loaned out to bolster his chances of being a regular member of Costa Rica’s 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign, which kicks off in June and resumes in September.
Whether that could lead to a permanent departure from the Victorian capital remains to be seen but Hernandez emphasised his preference was stay put.
“I don’t know,” Hernandez said when asked if he thought his time at the Victory was up.
“I finish (my) contract in March, I don’t know if I’ll stay in Melbourne.”
“I like Melbourne, Melbourne for me is good, for my family. I’m happy here in Melbourne but I don’t know if I’ll stay or not.”
The most prominent football competitions that run around the time Hernandez’s potential loan could occur appear to be the Brazilian Serie A, which starts in May, and the USA’s MLS which kicks off in March.
But Hernandez said he wasn’t sure what club he would end up at if he left the Victory.
Of more immediate concern for the Victory is a date with the Wellington Phoenix on Sunday at AAMI Park.
A win for eighth-placed Melbourne could catapult them into the top four and with the visitors looking set to be without star striker Paul Ifill, the match is looming as the perfect chance for the Victory to kickstart their season.
However, coach Mehmet Durakovic played down any notion that the Victory had a golden opportunity against the Phoenix and didn’t view the potential absence of Ifill as a bonus despite the fact he scored a goal and set up another against league leaders Brisbane Roar on Wednesday.
“Every game’s very important to us … As long as we play the football that we want to play and we create chances, we’ll win games,” Durakovic said after training at Gosch’s Paddock on Friday.
“No doubt he (Ifill) is a wonderful player but they’ve got a great squad and whoever comes in, I’m sure he’ll do a great job.”
“We’ve just got to think about the way we want to play and our system.”
Victory have almost a fully clean bill of health at the moment and could be further bolstered by the return of Rody Vargas from suspension.
Adrian Leijer suffered a knock at training but Durakovic said the captain will be right to play on Sunday.
“Adrian’s a strong guy and I’m positive that he’ll be okay for tomorrow’ training (session),” Durakovic said.
