The 42-year-old played alongside Kurz at Schalke 04 and 1860 Munich in the late 1990s and early 2000s, tallying over 130 German Bundesliga appearances, before joining up with with Kurz as his assistant at Adelaide United.

Tapalović says he is excited to continue his coaching career in Australia, alongside Kurz at the league’s biggest club.

“I feel lucky and am excited to have this opportunity with Melbourne Victory where I can continue working with Marco,” said Tapalović.

“Melbourne Victory is a strong, proud club and I really like what they stand for – it attracted me to the role.

“Marco is a brilliant coach and has a great vision – I look forward to working with him and the rest of the team to bring this to life in the 2019/20 A-League season.”

Meanwhile in New Zealand, former Sydney FC midfielder Cameron Devlin, 21, has joined Wellington Phoenix on a two year deal.

"‘Devlin is a hard worker who enjoys getting on the ball, so he fits into my vision for this season of creating a mixture of youth and experience," said Phoenix coach Uruk Talay.

The player added: "I’m very grateful to Ufuk for bringing me here to Wellington and I’m looking forward to working really hard and giving it my all for the fans here in Wellington.

"I thoroughly enjoyed working with him last year and are really looking forward to the chance to work with him again."