A-League internet fan forums ran hot with gossip - reportedly from the Four Diegos radio show - claiming the star defender had left the club following a run-in with Ernie Merrick.

Some had suggested Milicevic had already left the country and that a press conference had been scheduled for mid-morning to announce the shock departure.

Melbourne Victory suffered a disappointing 2-1 loss to Wellington Phoenix on the weekend and the match saw Milicevic pick up his third yellow card for the tournament, effectively ruling him out of taking part in further pre-season matches.

Merrick blasted his defence after the game, pinpointing poor marking by Milicevic as being partly to blame.

"An incredibly cheap goal, the first goal, where we switched off from a free kick," he said.

"Roddy (Vargas) argues with the referee, Ljubo (Milicevic) and (Matthew Kemp) don't mark, a ball is played through and leaves the goalkeeper one-on-one from a free kick. Incredible."

This morning Victory spokesman Tony Ising assured Ljubo Milicevic was still in the country and said that the rumours circulating are “unfounded” and “something we categorically deny”.

“Ljubo is sitting about ten metres away from me in our office, so he’s not in Europe. I don’t know where they’ve have come from but I’m waiting for someone to fill me in,” he said.

“If there’s a press conference, the media manager doesn’t know about it.

“Our CEO is unaware of any of these rumours and there is certainly no basis for them. At this stage there is certainly no media conference.”