"Paul Giannou is the type of player the future of Australian football will be built on," Reilly said.

"He would be a very welcome player at Melbourne Victory."

Giannou, 16, was first picked by Victory coach Ernie Merrick two years ago, and he was offered a scholarship at the Victorian Institute of Sport.

He has been training with Victory, and he was taken by the club to a pre-season tournament in Queensland - where football operations manager Gary Cole made a verbal offer of an apprenticeship.

The Giannou family said Victory had not followed through with the offer and, after waiting two months, they had engaged player-agent John Grimaud, who arranged the PSV trial.

"He went there, trained with PSV's academy once, and did so well he was promoted to train and play with the reserves for the rest of the stay," Grimaud said yesterday.

"Giannou has never been under contract with Melbourne Victory. If they thought of him so highly, why didn't they sign him?

"I am about giving the right players the chance to get ahead.

"For every player I've taken overseas, I've also worked on giving local players who were discarded by Victory an opportunity of moving up to the A-League."

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Peter Desira / The Australian
 

Melbourne Victory director Jack Reilly intervened in the Paul Giannou case yesterday, encouraging the youngster to go to the Netherlands and return to the A-League club if things don't work out.

 

Giannou, the hottest teenage football property in Australia, was a target for an apprenticeship with Victory, but he seems set to be offered a contract at PSV Eindhoven after impressing in a 10-day stay with the Dutch club.

Giannou's family is not happy at Victory not delivering on its promises, but Reilly said yesterday that he would facilitate a contract offer from the club if the Dutch trip did not work.