Victory cut eight in A-League shake-up

Besart Berisha stands as Melbourne Victory's only contracted foreign signing for the next A-League season, with the club moving on Friday to release eight players.

Title winners Nick Ansell, Fahid Ben Khalfallah, Rashid Mahazi and Daniel Georgievski have departed, along with George Howard, Alastair Bray, Lucas Spinella and Spanish centre-back Alan Baro.

Coach Kevin Muscat has thanked the players for their contribution to the club, saying "we will now begin the process of sourcing and recruiting some exciting new faces as we build towards the 2017/18 season".