Melbourne Victory continued their preparations for the Isuzu UTE A-League 2025-26 campaign with a 3-1 win over NPL side Northcote City in a pre-season friendly but looking at the result a little deeper provided an insight into the club’s future.
Veteran defender Adama Traore led the way with a brace against Northcote – who play in Victoria’s second tier, while academy graduate Joshua Inserra also scored in a four-goal first half on Wednesday night.
New signings Keegan Jelacic and Louis D’Arrigo were in the line-up after the 2024-25 Grand Finalists farewelled Daniel Arzani, Ryan Teague and Mitch Langerak in the off-season, which featured captain Roderick Miranda, Jack Duncan, Lachlan Jackson and Greek forward Nikos Vergos as 20-year-old loan recruit Sebastian Esposito, who arrived from Serie A’s Lecce, came off the bench.
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There was a notable name in Arthur Diles’ starting XI midweek – academy prospect Malik Olukhale. The 16-year-old nearly scored his first senior goal for Victory.
“Every single day there are academy players training with the first team, and every single day there’s feedback around that,” Victory’s director of football John Didulica told aleagues.com.au recently. “Arthur’s come from the academy space, so he knows it really, really well.
“He’s coached the youngest age groups all the way to being successful at NYL level. So he knows this space extremely well. He knows what a good 15 year old looks like, and how they can transition into the A-League because he’s done it.
“Constant feedback, constant reviewing of players. He gives a lot of opportunities for A-League training, a lot of opportunities, which you know for us is invaluable because unless you give them that exposure, you’re just guessing.”
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Olukhale – boasting electric speed and dribbling ability – was involved at the recent Emerging Socceroos Championship, where he scored two goals en route to the semi-finals. Playing the majority of the season in Victory’s Under-23 team in NPLM VIC, the teenager – who has been with the club since U14s and played in every age group along the way – scored eight goals in 23 games, to go with five senior academy appearances.
Young guns Kayne Razmovski – who recently signed his first pro deal with Victory, George Mihailidis, Daniel Lazarevski, Patrick Wall and James Houridis all enjoyed time off the bench. The quintet impressed in NPLM VIC this season.
Wall scored a team-high seven goals in 2025, having started the year in the U23s and it was the same story for James Houridis. Lazarevski added five goals at senior academy level to go with Mihailidis’ three.
Victory’s rising stars have had a chance to impress in pre-season. It is all part of the plan for Victory as they look to unearth the next Nishan Velupillay and Jordi Valadon.
“You’re seeing now even at the Emerging Socceroos tournament, Victoria winning the U15 competition,” Didulica said. “So it’s a very strong cohort of Victorian players coming through in the next couple of years. We’ve got a lot of them. We’ve got 15 year olds playing U17 and younger players being moved up all the time to give them the right challenge.
“From our perspective, we’re really excited about that.”
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“The league is looking at younger players, and that’s why the academy space is so important,” he continued.
“I definitely anticipate in the next 12 to 18 months, we’re getting players ready to put them in the best position to get scholarships. That’s clear and that’s where we’re heading towards. That’s what we want.”
Featured image: Melbourne Victory
