Milligan has had talks with Jets officials and is reported to be back in Australia after several trial spells in Europe.

Van Egmond would be very happy to see the Olyroo skipper sign on the dotted line but is no clearer to knowing if that will become a reality.

He told au.fourfourtwo.com today: "No question Mark Milligan is a wonderful talent.

"We would be interested in bringing him here but it would have to be the right deal for club and player.

"Hopefully a state of accord can be reached. That's all I can really say. There's no pen on paper."

Milligan, who was not among the Jets players at training today, would have to be squeezed into the wage structure with the current and future marquee spots already sewn up.

It is the form of current marquee Edmundo Zura that is van Egmond's immediate concern and the coach is unrepentant after some harsh criticism of the player at his weekly press conference yesterday.

Van Egmond said producing in short bursts was simply not good enough for a marquee player who was expected to deliver more for a team.

The Jets coach said today: "He has to produce and sustain it over a 90 minute period and to perform consistently each week.

"It will be interesting to see the response I get (against Melbourne Victory on Saturday night)."

As the team prepares to try to extract revenge for round three's 5-0 thrashing against Ernie Merrick's men, van Egmond said: "As we speak, the jury is still out on whether Joel Griffiths will be involved or not."

Griffiths has been racing against the clock to recover sufficiently from a hamstring injury.