Melbourne Victory coach Jim Magilton wants midfielder Carlos Hernandez to stay at the club.
Melbourne Victory coach Jim Magilton wants midfielder Carlos Hernandez to stay at the club.
And the Northern Irishman is also hoping to be told whether or not he has won the top job as Mehmet Durakovic’s permanent replacement within the next week.
Victory confirmed earlier this week that they had opened negotiations with the Costa Rican for a new contract.
But the 2010 Johnny Warren Medallist and scorer of 35 goals in 120 appearances for the club has been linked to a possible move away, with Adelaide United and Sydney FC nominated as suitors.
Magilton doesn’t want the 29-year-old to leave though, saying he’s ‘obviously a very talented footballer’, although he added that Hernandez should only stay if he has ‘total commitment’ to the cause.
“You don’t want to lose talented footballers,” Magilton said after training at AAMI Park on Friday morning.
“That will be discussed at board level in the next week and will see what lies ahead.”
“You want total commitment and if you don’t have total commitment you don’t really want them at your football club.”
“You want people here who want to be here and who want to take part in whatever is going to happen.”
“Carlos has big decisions to make, he is approaching 30 and he has got family responsibilities.”
“He is going to make those decisions in the best interests of Carlos and his family.”
Preparing for the final game of the season against Perth Glory at nib Stadium on Saturday night, Magilton is still waiting to hear whether the job is his after guiding the club to two wins, five draws and four losses in his 11 matches in charge.
“That will all be answered by the end of next week hopefully,” he added when asked about his own future.
“I am sure we will all sit down and have a chat and take it from there.”
“Once we get Saturday out of the way we will all be in a better place to work all that out.”
“Next week decisions will be made both on my future and on Carlos’ future and from there the club will go forward as it sees fit.”
Keen for revenge against the Glory after copping a 4-1 loss in their previous encounter in just his second match in charge, Magilton hasn’t ruled out chasing out-of-contract Gold Coast United players.
“Hopefully we will be in the market and will get as many of the good players as we possibly can,” Magilton said.
“But I am sure there are a lot of clubs looking for their best players and Melbourne Victory have to be amongst that.”
“Once we get Saturday out of the way we will all be in a better place to work all that out.”
