The club confirmed the departure of long-serving reserve goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic to Adelaide United after Beltrame was ruled out for up to eight weeks with a ripped thigh muscle.

“It is good for Adelaide United to have a goalkeeper of Eugene’s calibre to replace Daniel,” said Reds coach Aurelio Vidmar.

“He has had limited opportunities due to the great form of Melbourne’s number one keeper Michael Theoklitos and we look forward to Eugene being with us and hopefully helping us in our endeavour towards the championship.”

Galekovic was one of the Victory’s original signings back in 2005 but has had limited opportunities having only made 18 Hyundai A-League appearances for the Glory.

“Adelaide United is a successful club and anyone who plays football wants to play with a successful club. I will have more of a chance of getting a run with Daniel Beltrame’s injury and am looking forward to joining the squad,” Galekovic said.

“With Adelaide United in the AFC Champions League next year it is also a great opportunity to hopefully be part of that as well.”

Victory coach Ernie Merrick praised Eugene’s character as well as his goalkeeping ability and wished him all the best for his new club.

“I rate Eugene very highly both as a player and a person," added Merrick. "His personal standards have been exceptional and he’s been a great person to have around the club.

"It’s certainly been a very close competition between he and Michael Theoklitos for a starting berth, and I wish him well for his future career.

“It’s a good situation for Eugene in that he now has the opportunity to potentially play first team football in the A-League with Adelaide, and it also frees up a spot on our roster to sign another outfield player inside the salary cap.”

Young Socceroo goalkeeper Mitchell Langerak is now certain to be included in the Melbourne Victory squad for the first time this week.

Victory goalkeeping coach Steve Mautone today insisted Langerak is ready to fill Galekovic’s sizeable shoes.

“The reason why we were able to release Eugene is because we feel that Mitchell is now ready to step into the number 2 spot, and if called upon, we’d have no hesitation in putting him in against A-League opposition,” Mautone said.

“He’s come a long way since arriving in Melbourne, both in terms of his strength and conditioning under Adam Basil, and being in a professional environment.”