Asian Champions League: Melbourne Victory face foreigner dilemma as five into three doesn’t go

INTRIGUE as to which foreigners Melbourne Victory will take in to the ACL will linger for another few weeks after the club declined to announce their squad on Sunday.

INTRIGUE as to which foreigners Kevin Muscat will take in to the Asian Champions League will linger for another few weeks after Melbourne Victory declined to announce their squad on Sunday.

ACL regulations stipulate that sides must submit an initial 18-30 man squad 30 days before the group stage starts, but can add or replace as many as five players up to a week before the first game.

Victory is understood to have submitted the names of their Australian players - including captain Carl Valeri who remains sidelined by illness - but will hold fire on the foreigners until February 17, seven days before the AAMI Park ACL opener against a playoff winner.

Victory has five visa players - Besart Berisha, Fahid Ben Khalfallah, Matthieu Delpierre, Gui Finkler and Kosta Barbarouses - but can take only three in to Asia.

It does have the option of signing an additional Asian player for the tournament and the delay in confirming a squad could also indicate the club remains in the market for a new player.

Originally published as Asian Champions League: Melbourne Victory face foreigner dilemma as five into three doesn’t go