Last August Melbourne Victory Chairman Anthony Di Pietro stated that the Club would be releasing Ricardinho at the conclusion of his loan deal from Parana Clube on December 31, 2011. At the time Victory were clearing the way for Harry Kewell and needed to free up the International Marquee spot which Ricardinho occupied.

Today though the Herald Sun reported that Ricardinho still hasn’t been released after his loan spell ended and that he is still being payed by Melbourne Victory – a reported $300,000 per annum. Melbourne are looking to sign an international player during the mid-season transfer window but are in a tricky situation with Ricardinho occupying a visa spot and leaving the Club with only around $100,000 left in the salary cap to spend.

Managing Director Richard Wilson says that they’re still trying to work out a free transfer to get the player off their hands:

“We’re not bringing him back. We’re working on his situation at the moment because his loan with the Brazilian club has finished. If we finalise a financial arrangement that’s agreeable then we free up the visa spot. Otherwise he’s still on our books.”

“We’re in the market but we haven’t done any deals. Are we likely to? It’s a possibility. We’ve still got a bit of money in the cap and room on the roster. It’s difficult to do anything in the January window, but we’re in the market and we’ve had players offered to us both locally and overseas. This window is primarily about shoring up our list to get the best result we can this season.”

The Ricardinho situation is just one issue in long list of problems that the Melbourne Victory board have failed to manage in recent times as mistakes of the past continue to haunt them.