Background

Melbourne City won three consecutive A-League Men premierships; the first ever A-League Men club to do so and played their fourth consecutive Grand Final in the 2022–23 season. Rado Vidošić became new head coach during the 2022 FIFA World Cup mid-season break in place of Patrick Kisnorbo leaving for French club Troyes. City lost the Grand Final 1–6 to the Central Coast Mariners; three of four recent Grand Final lost; twice in neutral CommBank Stadium, as the 2023 Grand Final was played after an APL decision of moving A-Leagues Grand Finals to Sydney for the next three seasons earlier in the season.

Pre-season

Tolgay Arslan with Hamburger SV in 2013

Valon Berisha, Matt Sutton, Raphael Borges Rodrigues and Kerrin Stokes all departed City following conclusions to their playing contracts on 9 June 2023. A further two departures were made the same day of Tom Glover and Aiden O'Neill in search of footballing opportunties in Europe. City's first signing of the 2023–24 season was German midfieilder Tolgay Arslan coming off Serie A club Udinese for two seasons on 15 June 2023. Two academy players Arion Sulemani and Emin Durakovic both signed three-year scholarship contracts for City a week later. Only a day later, three young players signed for City; Patrick Beach, Alessandro Lopane and Zane Schreiber all on multi-year deals. City were drawn to play NPL Victoria side Oakleigh Cannons in the 2023 Australia Cup Round of 32.^[1] On 30 June 2023, rumoured Steven Ugarkovic joined City for until the end of the 2024–25 season and Marco Tilio departed City for Scottish club Celtic.

Experienced A-League Men goalkeeper Jamie Young signed for City on 4 July 2023. The Round of 32 clash in the Australia Cup details were confirmed to play on 13 August 2023 at Jack Edwards Reserve; home of Oakleigh Cannons.^[2] On 6 July 2023, Terry Antonis joined City for the 2023–24 season. Four days later, City made their second international signing French defender Samuel Souprayen for a two-year deal. Max Caputo extended his contract on 13 July 2023 to last until the end of the 2025–26 season. Official start dates for the A-Leagues seasons were confirmed, with the A-League Men to begin between 20–22 October 2023.^[3] City's first friendly of the season was confirmed to play Dandenong Thunder at George Andrews Reserve.^[4]

Croatian winger Marin Jakoliš signed for City on loan from Ligue 2 club Angers SCO on 2 August 2023.^[5] Four days later, former player Aziz Behich returned to City on a two-year deal. Jordon Hall re-signed for City for an extra season, and Frenchman Florin Berenguer departing City after five seasons, 111 appearances and four silverware on 9 August 2023. The friendly against Dandenong Thunder resulted in a 3–1 win via goals by Arslan and two for Antonis.^[6]

August

Young

Reis

Good

Hall

Talbot

Ugarkovic

Lopane

Arslan

Jakoliš

Leckie

Maclaren

Starting line-up for the 2023 Australia Cup Round of 32 match against Oakleigh Cannons on 13 August

City kicked off their season in the Australia Cup Round of 32 against Oakleigh Cannons on 13 August 2023. Despite going behind twice, City claimed the win thanks to two penalty goals by Arslan and a late winner by Lopane sending them through to the Round of 16.^[7] It was confirmed for the third consecutive time, that City would host Wellington Phoenix in the Round of 16.^[8] On 17 August 2023, Callum Talbot was called up to the Olyroos squad for the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification^[9] and Moroccan attacking midfielder Hamza Sakhi signed for City on loan for the season off Ligue 2 club Auxerre. Australia Cup Round of 16 details were confirmed to play host back at Jack Edwards Reserve against the Wellington Phoenix.^[10]

Full A-Leagues fixtures were released on 24 August 2023, with City confirmed to play the opener to locals Western United and play host to two Melbourne Derbies. The same day had City's AFC Champions League group stage opponents against Thai club Buriram United, Japanese club Ventforet Kofu and Chinese club Zhejiang. City in their Round of 16 clash on 27 August 2023, backed a revenge win after two bowouts in previous Australia Cups against Wellington Phoenix with a 3–0 win via two goals by Maclaren and the opener by Arslan; wth two season debutants of Sakhi and returning Behich.^[11]

September

Two call-ups to the Socceroos squad in the September were made of Leckie and Behich on 1 September 2023^[12] and Jamie Maclaren was confirmed City captain ahead of the 2023–24 season.^[13] City's quarter-final Australia Cup match up was confirmed against South Australian side North Eastern MetroStars at T.K. Shutter Reserve.^[14] On 8 September 2023, Leckie was confirmed a knee injury and therefore missing out on Socceroos match against Mexico.^[15] Only a week later, Nabbout suffered an achilles injury in a behind-closed-friendly ruling him out for the 2023–24 season^[16] immediately implementing an injury loan replacement of Brazilian winger Léo Natel. City continued to progress through the Australia Cup, by winning their quarter-final match 2–1 against North Eastern MetroStars in a late comeback on 15 September 2023 via a header goal by Good and last minute winner by Arslan; his fourth of the season.^[17]

City were set to host their Australia Cup semi-final at AAMI Park against Sydney FC.^[18] In the mid-week, they began their AFC Champions League group stage campaign in their first at home in a 0–0 draw with Ventforet Kofu on 20 September 2023.^[19] With only four days time until City's semi-final clash with Sydney, it resulted in a 2–1 loss as City's first loss of the season and ending their Australia Cup run one short of the final.^[20] On 25 September 2023, four players; Sebastian Esposito, Max Caputo, Zane Schreiber and Harrison Shillington were called up to the Young Socceroos' squad for the October window^[21] and Harry Politdis signed a senior deal for the 2023–24 season.

First-team squad

^[22]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Jamie Young 2 DF  AUS Scott Galloway 4 DF  POR Nuno Reis 6 MF  AUS Steven Ugarkovic 7 FW  AUS Mathew Leckie 8 MF  MAR Hamza Sakhi (on loan from Auxerre) 9 FW  AUS Jamie Maclaren (captain) 10 MF  GER Tolgay Arslan 11 FW  BRA Léo Natel (on loan from Corinthians) 15 FW  AUS Andrew Nabbout 16 DF  AUS Aziz Behich 17 MF  AUS Terry Antonis 18 DF  AUS Jordon Hall

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 MF  AUS Alessandro Lopane 22 DF  AUS Curtis Good 25 DF  AUS Callum Talbot 26 DF  FRA Samuel Souprayen 33 GK  AUS Patrick Beach 34 FW  AUS Arion Sulemani 35 MF  AUS Zane Schreiber 37 FW  AUS Max Caputo 38 DF  AUS Harry Politidis 39 MF  AUS Emin Durakovic 40 GK  AUS James Nieuwenhuizen (Scholarship) 44 FW  CRO Marin Jakoliš (on loan from Angers) 46 FW  AUS Benjamin Mazzeo

Transfers in

No.	Position	Player	Transferred from	Type/fee	Contract length	Date	Ref.
33	GK	Patrick Beach	Central Coast Mariners Academy	Free transfer	3 years	14 June 2023	[23][24]
10	MF	Tolgay Arslan	Udinese	Free transfer	2 years	15 June 2023	[25]
21	MF	Alessandro Lopane	Unattached	Free transfer	2 years	23 June 2023	[24]
35	MF	Zane Schreiber	Sydney FC NPL	Free transfer	3 years	23 June 2023	[24]
6	MF	Steven Ugarkovic	Unattached	Free transfer	2 years	30 June 2023	[26]
1	GK	Jamie Young	Unattached	Free transfer	1 year	4 July 2023	[27]
17	MF	Terry Antonis	Unattached	Free transfer	1 year	6 July 2023	[28]
26	DF	Samuel Souprayen	Unattached	Free transfer	2 years	10 July 2023	[29]
44	FW	Marin Jakoliš	Angers	Loan	1 year	2 August 2023	[5]
16	DF	Aziz Behich	Dundee United	Undisclosed	2 years	6 August 2023	[30][31]
8	MF	Hamza Sakhi	Auxerre	Loan	1 year	17 August 2023	[32]
11	FW	Léo Natel	Corinthians	Loan	1 year	15 September 2023	[33]

Transfers out

No.	Position	Player	Transferred to	Type/fee	Date	Ref.
38	DF	Jordan Bos	Westerlo	$2,000,000	16 May 2023	[36]
3	DF	Scott Jamieson	Retired		4 June 2023	[37]
14	MF	Valon Berisha	Reims	End of loan	9 June 2023	[38]
33	GK	Matt Sutton	Unattached	End of contract	9 June 2023	[38]
35	FW	Raphael Borges Rodrigues	Unattached	End of contract	9 June 2023	[38]
36	DF	Kerrin Stokes	Unattached	End of contract	9 June 2023	[38]
1	GK	Tom Glover	Unattached	End of contract	9 June 2023	[39]
13	MF	Aiden O'Neill	Unattached	End of contract	9 June 2023	[39]
6	DF	Thomas Lam	Unattached	Mutual contract termination	13 June 2023	[40]
8	MF	Richard van der Venne	Unattached	Mutual contract termination	13 June 2023	[40]
23	FW	Marco Tilio	Celtic	Undisclosed	30 June 2023	[41]
30	MF	Luke Oresti	Central Coast Mariners Academy	Mutual contract termination	8 July 2023	[42][43]
10	MF	Florin Berenguer	Unattached	End of contract	9 August 2023	[44]

Contract extensions

No.	Player	Position	Duration	Date	Notes
34	Arion Sulemani	FW	3 years	22 June 2023	New 3-year contract replacing previous scholarship contract which was set to expire in 2024.[45]
39	Emin Durakovic	MF	3 years	22 June 2023	New 3-year contract replacing previous scholarship contract which was set to expire in 2024.[45]
37	Max Caputo	FW	3 years	13 July 2023	[46]
18	Jordon Hall	DF	1 year	9 August 2023	[47]
8	Hamza Sakhi	MF	1 year	11 January 2024	Signed a permanent contract until end of 2024–25.[48]

Overall record

A-League Men

Australia Cup

AFC Champions League

Group stage

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Ventforet Kofu	6	3	2	1	11	8	+3	11	Advance to round of 16
2	Melbourne City	6	2	3	1	8	6	+2	9
3	Zhejiang	6	2	1	3	9	13	−4	7
4	Buriram United	6	2	0	4	9	10	−1	6

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Melbourne City v Ventforet Kofu

20 September 2023 1	Melbourne City	0–0	Ventforet Kofu	Melbourne
20:00 AEDT		Report		Stadium: Melbourne Rectangular Stadium Attendance: 3,245 Referee: Salman Ahmad Falahi (Qatar)

Zhejiang v Melbourne City

4 October 2023 2	Zhejiang	1–2	Melbourne City	Huzhou, China
20:00 UTC+8	Leonardo 19' (pen.)	Report	Behich 4' Caputo 17'	Stadium: Huzhou Olympic Sports Centre Attendance: 18,798 Referee: Hanna Hattab (Syria)

Buriram United v Melbourne City

25 October 2023 3	Buriram United	0–2	Melbourne City	Buriram, Thailand
17:00 IT		Report	Lopane 22' Maclaren 41'	Stadium: Buriram Stadium Attendance: 17,265 Referee: Omar Mohamed Al Ali (United Arab Emirates)

Melbourne City v Buriram United

8 November 2023 4	Melbourne City	0–1	Buriram United	Melbourne
20:00 AEDT		Report	Čaušić 86' (pen.)	Stadium: Melbourne Rectangular Stadium Attendance: 2,472 Referee: Majed Al-Shamrani (Saudi Arabia)

Ventforet Kofu v Melbourne City

29 November 2023 5	Ventforet Kofu	3–3	Melbourne City	Tokyo, Japan
19:00 JST	Inoue 8' Torikai 43' Miyazaki 85'	Report	Talbot 5' Arslan 59' (pen.) Jakoliš 64'	Stadium: Japan National Stadium Attendance: 15,877 Referee: Mouood Bonyadifar (Iran)

Melbourne City v Zhejiang

12 December 2023 6	Melbourne City	1–1	Zhejiang	Melbourne
20:30 AEDT	Arslan 54'	Report	Mushekwi 90+9'	Stadium: Princes Park Attendance: 2,487 Referee: Kim Hee-gon (South Korea)
Note: Match was originally scheduled to be played at AAMI Park at 20:00 AEDT, but due to the venue's unavailability was rescheduled to Princes Park at 20:30 AEDT.[53][54]

Appearances and goals

Includes all competitions. Players with no appearances not included in the list.

As of 12 January 2024

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Player	A-League Men		Australia Cup		AFC Champions League		Total
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
				1	GK		Jamie Young	12	0	4	0	6	0	22	0
2	DF		Scott Galloway	4+3	0	0+1	0	0+4	0	12	0
4	DF		Nuno Reis	4+1	0	3	0	4	0	12	0
6	DF		Steven Ugarkovic	8+3	1	4	0	5	0	20	1
7	FW		Mathew Leckie	1+1	1	2	0	1+1	0	6	1
8	MF		Hamza Sakhi	12	0	3	0	5+1	0	21	0
9	FW		Jamie Maclaren	12	7	3	3	5+1	1	21	11
10	MF		Tolgay Arslan	11	4	4	4	6	2	21	10
11	FW		Léo Natel	7+4	2	0	0	3+1	0	15	2
15	MF		Andrew Nabbout	0+1	0	0+1	0	0	0	2	0
16	DF		Aziz Behich	10	0	3	0	6	1	19	1
17	MF		Terry Antonis	2+7	2	0+4	0	0+2	0	15	2
18	DF		Jordon Hall	0	0	2+1	0	0	0	3	0
21	MF		Alessandro Lopane	7+5	1	3	1	3+2	1	20	3
22	DF		Curtis Good	10	1	3	1	6	0	19	2
25	DF		Callum Talbot	10+1	0	3	0	4+1	1	19	1
26	DF		Samuel Souprayen	10	0	2+1	0	4+1	0	18	0
35	MF		Zane Schreiber	0+2	0	0+2	0	0	0	4	0
37	MF		Max Caputo	0+8	0	1+2	0	1+1	1	13	1
38	DF		Harry Politidis	0+3	0	0+1	0	0+3	0	7	0
44	FW		Marin Jakoliš	11	1	4	0	6	1	21	2
46	FW		Benjamin Mazzeo	1+6	2	0	0	0+2	0	9	2
50	FW		Medin Memeti	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	1	0
53	DF		Harrison Shillington	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	1	0

Disciplinary record

Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total cards are equal. Players with no cards not included in the list.

As of 12 January 2024

Rank	No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	A-League Men			Australia Cup			AFC Champions League			Total
1	16	DF		Aziz Behich	3	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	5	0	0
2	6	MF		Steven Ugarkovic	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	4	0	0
	8	MF		Hamza Sakhi	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0
	10	MF		Tolgay Arslan	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	4	0	0
5	1	GK		Jamie Young	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
	25	DF		Callum Talbot	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
	44	FW		Marin Jakoliš	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	3	0	0
8	4	DF		Nuno Reis	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	0	0
	11	FW		Léo Natel	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
	22	DF		Curtis Good	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
11	9	FW		Jamie Maclaren	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0
	18	DF		Jordon Hall	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	21	MF		Alessandro Lopane	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0
	26	DF		Samuel Souprayen	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	37	FW		Max Caputo	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0
Total					21	0	0	3	0	0	11	0	0	35	0	0

Clean sheets

Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total clean sheets are equal. Numbers in parentheses represent games where both goalkeepers participated and both kept a clean sheet; the number in parentheses is awarded to the goalkeeper who was substituted on, whilst a full clean sheet is awarded to the goalkeeper who was on the field at the start and end of play. Goalkeepers with no clean sheets not included in the list.

As of 12 January 2024

Rank	No.	Nat.	Goalkeeper	A-League Men	Australia Cup	AFC Champions League	Total
1	1		Jamie Young	3	1	2	6
Total				3	1	2	6