Milligan severed ties with Sydney FC in February after three seasons with the A-League glamour club and immediately set his sights on the European club scene.

By his own admission the search for a new home has proven far tougher than he had anticipated, but it appears the talented 22-year-old is on the brink of securing a lucrative contract with a top-flight English club.

"My agent's over in Europe at the moment and I'm extremely close to securing a deal," Milligan said today.

"I'm just leaving that to him at the moment, I told him I'll hear from him when he's got something for me.

"So I'm just concentrating on my Olympic commitments at the moment and getting myself fit."

Speaking on the eve of the Olyroos' friendly against the New Zealand Olympic team in Sydney on Saturday, Milligan confirmed reports he attended trials with English Premier League clubs Arsenal and Manchester City in May.

Milligan remained tight lipped when pressed for details on his likely destination saying only that his taste of the big time had helped to restore his mojo.

"It was excellent for me, it was the first time I'd been over there and actually trialled or played or anything like that so I think it was good for me to see exactly how things over there work," Milligan said.

"I did do extremely well and I think that now has helped me a lot in turning my form around."

"Sort of since then I've become like the old Mark, a lot more confident, it's started me back on the right path with my fitness and hopefully in some way - one way or the other - something will come of that."

Asked to account for his lost confidence, Milligan admits the uncertainty over his future got the better of him.

"It's hard you know, everybody goes through their down times, previous to that I'd had a massive two years and obviously with the World Cup, the Asian Cup, the A-League season in season-two, so there were a lot of highs," he said.

"Coming off contract knowing I didn't know where my future lay was sort of the first time I've had to deal with anything like that and I think it just played on my mind a little bit."

"In saying that as well, now that I'm heading back in the right direction I don't think I'll ever go through that again, I'll know how to deal with it."

Milligan insists the upcoming Olympic campaign remains his sole focus and says returning with a medal is an achievable goal.

"We're going over there to do well, to do very well," Milligan said.

"Obviously we've got a very difficult group (Serbia, Argentina and Ivory Coast) but in saying that, if you can get through that qualifying round you're only one game away from a medal playoff."