MOVES to naturalise Besart Berisha as an Australian will have a huge bearing on Melbourne Victory’s off-season rebuild.

Victory players arrive home from South Korea where on Tuesday night they were defeated 2-1 by Jeonbuk Motors, eliminating them from the Asian Champions League at the Round of 16 stage.

Archie Thompson (released), Matthieu Delpierre (retired) and Wellington-bound pair Gui Finkler and Kosta Barbarouses are already confirmed outs, while a handful of other players are expected to learn their fate on Friday.

Besart Berisha is eligible for Australian citizenship in September. Source: AAP

Of the current senior squad, only Jesse Makarounas, Giancarlo Gallifuoco and Dylan Murnane are off contract, but it remains to be seen whether the trio forms part of the exodus.

Come September, Berisha will have been in Australia for five years.

Victory has confirmed with Football Federation Australia that the 30-year-old will be considered an Australian for squad-building purposes as soon as he is naturalised.

A-League clubs are permitted five foreigners each.

If Berisha were to be naturalised, it would give Victory the opportunity to recruit four more visa players for next season, with Fahid Ben Khalfallah the only other foreign player contracted.

Berisha, who has two more years left on his current marquee deal, has been coy both publicly and privately on the subject, but is understood to have started making moves behind the scenes to get the process underway.

The striker, who was left out of Albania’s Euro 2016 squad last week, has an Albanian passport.

“I’m here five years now and I don’t mind, I would love to be an Aussie,” Berisha said recently.

“If I can get it I will take it because being Australian is good.”

With Oliver Bozanic’s contract also having two years left to run, Victory won’t have a marquee spot available for two more seasons — unless the Australian midfielder can be moved under the salary cap.

Young fullbacks Jason Geria and Scott Galloway are contracted for another season, but aren’t yet 100 per cent certainties to remain.

Galloway attracted European interest in January, while Geria is considered hot property given his rise to prominence and recent inclusion in to the Socceroos squad.

Makarounas, who has struggled for game time at Victory, has attracted interest from a couple of other A-League clubs, while there have also been nibbles for impressive Victory youth player Stefan Nigro, who could otherwise be in line for a senior deal.

Speculation linking Victory to two of its former stars, 2014-15 championship winning captain Mark Milligan (currently with Baniyas) and 2012-13 Johnny Warren Medallist Marco Rojas (on loan at FC Thun) has been scuttled by the club.