MELBOURNE Victory has not ruled itself out of the running to sign 2013-14 leading scorer James Troisi next season.

Troisi returned to the A-League last year on loan from the Italian Serie A.

He quickly became a fan favourite at Victory and his on-field exploits, in which he scored 15 goals in 35 games, saw him finish second in the Johnny Warren Medal and catapulted him in to the Socceroos squad for the World Cup, where he made two appearances off the bench.

It’s understood the fate of the 26-year-old will ultimately be decided by Italian giants Juventus, which owns Troisi outright for a further two seasons, but he has been linked with a possible move to Western Sydney as well as other destinations in Europe.

media_camera James Troisi at Socceroos training at Arena Unimed Sicoob during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Victory coach Kevin Muscat said on Thursday that the Troisi situation is “a lot more complex than anyone understands”, but refused to say whether the forward was likely to be at AAMI Park next season.

“I don’t want to put myself in a position where I’m giving people false hope or anything like that,” Muscat said.

“But the reality is I’m aware of the situation and am updated on the situation constantly. Both parties walked away from our deal at the end of last season very, very happy.

“So in the future, who knows what could happen.”

Troisi was voted Victory’s Players’ Player of the Year and finished just a vote behind Adama Traore in the Victory Medal.

media_camera The James Troisi situation is “a lot more complex than anyone understands”, says Kevin Muscat.

“James certainly enjoyed his time here — that’s well documented — and we were very pleased with his contribution,” Muscat said.

“I’ll maintain at this point in time that I’m monitoring his situation.”

Victory has 20 contracted senior players for next season, but is only expected to sign another two.

The club can sign one more foreign player and Muscat said he intends to do so.

“In an ideal world you want people here as quick as possible but sometimes it’s not that easy,” he said.

“I certainly have got a fair idea of where I want to strengthen, but there’s players competing for places at the moment and depending on who becomes available that might alter slightly.”