Lyon defender Damien Da Silva is on Melbourne Victory’s radar following the retirement of Matthew Spiranovic, according to head coach Tony Popovic.
Da Silva has featured seven times for French giants Lyon in all competitions this season and could follow Western Sydney Wanderers recruit Morgan Schneiderlin from Ligue 1 to the Isuzu UTE A-League.
READ MORE: VICTORY DEFENDER SPIRANOVIC RETIRES
READ MORE: KAMAU RETURNS TO A-LEAGUES VIA VICTORY
The 34-year-old last started for Laurent Blanc’s Lyon in last month’s Coupe de France win over Metz.
Da Silva is a former captain of Rennes, where he was part of the club’s stunning Coupe de France triumph over Paris Saint-Germain in 2019. He also captained Rennes in the UEFA Champions League against Chelsea, Sevilla and Krasnodar.
“Damien’s a player on a list that we’ve been looking at in terms of defenders,” Popovic said.
“We’ve lost a lot of senior players in the last three or four weeks and now we’ve lost another one in Matty (Spiranovic).”
Spiranovic managed just four appearances while battling injury this season before announcing his retirement on Thursday.
The 34-year-old was part of the Socceroos’ 2015 Asian Cup win and also won the AFC Champions League, A-League Men Premiership, DFB-Pokal and Australia Cup in a decorated career.
Meanwhile, Popovic hopes new signing Bruce Kamau can provide the attacking spark missing from his side’s disastrous A-League Men campaign to date.
Kamau has joined Victory on a short-term loan deal until the end of the season.
Victory have struggled in attack this season as one of only two ALM sides – along with Brisbane Roar – scoring at a rate of less than a goal per game.
They lost top scorer Nick D’Agostino to Norway last month but have picked up former Adelaide United and Western Sydney Wanderers winger Kamau on loan from Greek first-division outfit OFI Crete.
Kamau, who also played for Melbourne City alongside new Victory teammate Bruno Fornaroli, touched down on Wednesday and is a chance to feature in Friday night’s clash with Wellington Phoenix at AAMI Park.
“He’s a winger that takes on players, that penetrates the line and runs in behind, and we really want that dynamic player in that front third,” Popovic said. “We feel Bruce can add to the young players that we’ve got here.
“His experience of the A-League, and also recently in Greece, we feel will benefit the team.
“He’s just arrived and he’s excited to be here, excited to be part of the club and he wants to play his part in helping us climb up the table.”
Victory are winless in six matches ahead of the Wellington clash, with just one point from that period leaving them anchored to the bottom of the ladder.
They sit five points adrift of their nearest rivals and seven off the top six, with a game in hand, but Popovic maintains hope of mounting a late finals push.
“I don’t see why not but really that’s looking too far ahead,” Popovic said. “At the moment what we’ve got to focus on is Wellington.
“We’re playing at home with our home support and if we can improve on our performance I believe we can get the three points.”