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A day after Melbourne Victory confirmed that an overseas club had tabled an offer for Mark Milligan, the club announced that the offer had been withdrawn and that Milligan would not be leaving.
The Victory, who have made waves by signing starlet Tom Rogic on loan and selling Mitch Nichols to Cerezo Osaka, created the A-League's biggest news of the January transfer window yesterday in announcing the recruitment of Brisbane Roar striker Bersart Berisha. Retaining Milligan will help Kevin Muscat maintain a healthy level of the club's current identity while the other moves are clearly adjusting the composition of the roster to fit his own profile rather than necessarily copying his predecessor, Ange Postecoglou.
Milligan, who had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on January 14, is expected to miss another month to five weeks in recovery. That means the captain will not be available for the Victory's Champions League qualifier on February 15 and at earliest would be back for the March 1 Melbourne Derby. In the meantime, Rogic arrives and could play as soon as this weekend's Australia Day game against Sydney FC at the Etihad Stadium and the Victory's contingent of Australia U22s return after losing to Saudi Arabia in the quarterfinals of the AFC U22 Championship in Oman.
