Behich, 21, has had two scintillating seasons at Heart, winning the club's 2010-11 Supporters' Player of the Season and being awarded the A-League Young Footballer of the Month in January last year.

The former Melbourne Victory man, who has been converted into a left back at Heart, provided five assists for the club last term leading to interest from Besiktas but he told au.fourfourtwo.com that he'd put his European ambitions on the backburner after nothing materialised.

“It was moreso talks. There was no offer put on the table,” Behich said about Besiktas' off-season interest.

“It's every player's dream to play in Europe. If I continue to do what I'm doing and keep improving, who knows where it can take me, but I'm a Melbourne Heart player and I'm focused on doing my best here.”

On the speculation about being a future Socceroo, he added: “I've only got one thing on my mind and that's what I've got to do with my club. That's where it starts and begins. If I can improve my game, everything else will fall into place.”

Behich said he has been working on improving his game during the off-season under new coach John Aloisi, admitting he's still getting used to being a defender.

“John (Aloisi) and (youth coach) Hayden Foxe have been working on my body positioning,” he said. “I'm still getting used to that having been an attacker.

“Every day on the park you can improve on something and that's what the coaches are there for.”

Heart are also looking to improve after being eliminated from the finals last term in the first week and Behich said there were good signs with their new arrivals.

“They've all gelled in with the group straight away,” he said. “Patrick (Gerhardt) has been solid for us in the backline so he's a good addition. Josip (Tadic) is good up front and Dylan Macallister has been bagging goals. All the recruits look good.”

He continued: “We've had a good run of pre-season games. We've got the results, we've been banging in goals. We're trying to get the final little things sorted such as shape. We'll be ready to go Round One.”

However, Heart's hopes for improvement may be hurt after allowing talented youngsters Curtis Good, Brendan Hamill and Eli Babalj to all leave for clubs abroad in the off-season. Behich, though, said the club was doing the right thing.

“The club has always said they won't stand in players' ways,” he said. “It's a good thing they are happy to let young players pursue their dreams and potentially play elsewhere.”

As for his own ambitions' abroad, Behich insisted he had no preference on a European destination despite his Turkish background and link with Besiktas.

“The Turkish league is a top league, I've seen it on TV, there's some good players there," he said. "But if it was to be the Turkish league or the English league or the German league, any big league would be fine.”