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In-form Barbarouses out to spark Victory

3 minute read

Kosta Barbarouses wants to add a fourth A-League championship to his collection before assessing his playing future at season's end.

KOSTA BARBAROUSES of the Victory celebrates after scoring his sides third and winning goal during the A-League match between the Melbourne Victory and Perth Glory at AAMI Park in Melbourne, Australia.
KOSTA BARBAROUSES of the Victory celebrates after scoring his sides third and winning goal during the A-League match between the Melbourne Victory and Perth Glory at AAMI Park in Melbourne, Australia. Picture: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

Melbourne Victory's elimination final with Wellington Phoenix on Friday night could be fleet-footed attacker Kosta Barbarouses's last home A-League game for the club.

If so, the 29-year-old wants to make it a night to remember and power the club closer to an unprecedented fifth title.

Off the back of a 14-goal season, Barbarouses will explore opportunities at season's end, pushing him closer to an AAMI Park exit.

"(A move) overseas is something that is enticing me at the moment. I can't rule out anything," he told AAP.

Barbarouses isn't unhappy at Victory, nor is he agitating for a move.

The New Zealand international simply believes he'll be in demand and will explore the market at season's end.

"I've got a little one on the way in September. It's not just two people I have to worry about from here on. It's going to be three," he said.

"Instead of being nervous about it, I'm excited about what my options are going to be and what the end situation is going to look like.

"I need to see what Victory can do for me, what I'm worth to them ... not saying that in a negative way but that's the way the cap works.

"I'm confident there's going to be quite a bit of interest with the season I've had.

"I know my finals performances are probably going to dictate it. I want to finish on a high and then see what happens."

Barbarouses would certainly be leaving an almighty gap in Victory's forward line.

Only Archie Thompson and Besart Berisha have scored more goals for Victory than the Kiwi fan favourite, who sits fifth for games played at the club.

But few could begrudge him a chance for another overseas move after previous forays to Russia and Greece failed to work out.

He's also a two-time Phoenix alumni but said that fact wouldn't increase the stakes on Friday.

"There's no personal challenge. I don't believe in giving a little bit more because of who you're playing. There's none of that," he said.

Instead, driving Barbarouses is a chance to show that the Victory are better than their third-placed finish this season.

"At Victory we target championships. We're a big club," he said.

"We're confident in ourselves. We've dropped a few points this season that we felt we shouldn't have that has made us finish third.

"We've got to believe in ourselves, in our ability and that we've got enough firepower up front and resilience at the back to deal with Wellington and kick on.

"We want to play three more massive games."

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