“It looks as though we've fallen a bit short but that's not through lack of trying. It looks as though he'll sign elsewhere,” Moss said. “I've spoken to Tommy quite a few times in the past few days. He's a great guy, a fantastic player and I hope he makes the right decision for the sake of Australian football because we need him fit and firing at the World Cup.”

Moss said Rogic would have slotted straight into the attacking midfielder role left vacant by the season-ending knee injury to Marcos Flores.

“I believe he would have been perfect fit for us and we would have been a perfect fit for him,” Moss said. “But Tommy is a big boy now, a European professional and he's got people around him advising him where to go. But we tried our hardest.”

Moss was much happier when reflecting on his side's 1-0 win over Sydney FC at Allianz Stadium, declaring the Mariners could have won by more.

“I thought we carved out four really good chances in the first half and got in behind what was a pretty high [defensive] line,” he said. “Our touch and execution just let us down a bit. A few more goals probably would have fairly reflected the performance.”