Robbie Kruse could be on the verge of a breakthrough move to European football, but not before kicking off Melbourne Victory’s AFC Champions League campaign.
Kruse, 22, came close to joining Eredivisie club FC Twente after his debut Hyundai A-League season with Brisbane Roar (then Queensland Roar) in 2007-08.
He spent a week on trial with the Dutch club, but off-field issues led to a permanent move falling through.
After an impressive second season with Melbourne Victory and strong Asian Cup with the Qantas Socceroos, the forward is again being heavily linked with a transfer to Europe.
German second-tier side Fortuna Dusseldorf are reportedly leading the race for his signature, but Kruse insists nothing has been confirmed at this stage.
“I haven’t sorted my future out entirely yet,” Kruse said.
“My agent really takes care of that. It’s flattering to have all the interest there and hopefully my future’s sorted. But at the moment we’re just trying to concentrate on the ACL and hopefully we can do good there.”
“I went to Twente when I was 19 and things were going to look good there. But I wasn’t ready, mentally I wasn’t up for up it, so I come home and I really had a tough year the next year.”
“I’ve worked hard on and off the pitch and obviously I want to go overseas, every player wants to, and now’s as good a time as any.”
“Obviously it’s not up to me and other things have to fall in place for that to happen. If I stay here at Melbourne I’m happy, I’ve enjoyed my time here, I’ve learned a lot and I’ve got a great bunch of team-mates here as well.”
If Kruse does secure a move to Germany, he will be following in the footsteps of former team-mate Mitch Langerak.
The 22-year-old goalkeeper secured a high-profile transfer from Victory to Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund in 2010 and made his debut against Bayern Munich on Saturday.
“I think Germany is a great league,” Kruse said.
“It’s very technical and very tactical as well. I speak to Mitch a lot as well and he tells me what training is like over at Dortmund. It’s a great league and if I was to head there I think it would be a great move.”
“At the moment nothing is done and I’ve just got to concentrate here on Melbourne Victory because I’m a Melbourne Victory player at the moment.”
While Kruse waits to find out where he will be plying his trade next season, the small matter of the Victory’s ACL campaign will serve as a welcome distraction.
Victory finished bottom of their group and crashed out at the first hurdle last year after the schedule forced the squad to fly to Japan on the night of their Grand Final penalty shootout defeat to Sydney.
But their elimination from the Hyundai A-League finals at the hands of Gold Coast United means the team are free to concentrate on the ACL without encountering a fixture clash.
“Last year was difficult,” Kruse said.
“Obviously there’s circumstances … being in the finals and that didn’t help so I think this year, although it’s disappointing we’re out of the finals, at least we can put our best foot forward in the Champions League and really concentrate on that.”
“We’re out now (of the A-League finals) and we’re disappointed about that, but if we can get all of our players on the park and really go over there and do our best then hopefully we can get through the group stage and get through on top.”
“I’m assigned (to the Victory’s ACL squad) until the round of 16 and definitely want to get through to that and play in that, get through that as well and then we’ll see.”
