Mitch Nichols attracts overseas interest Cop that: Victory's Mitch Nichols slots one past Andrew Redmayne in the Melbourne derby. Melbourne Victory faces a fight to retain key midfielder Mitch Nichols, whose stellar form since joining the A-League championship chaser has made him a wanted man overseas. Nichols, who scored twice in the 3-1 derby win over Melbourne Heart, has attracted the interest of a leading J-League side, believed to be Cerezo Osaka, who could move for the Queenslander in January. Cerezo finished fourth in the J-League last season under Brazilian coach Levir Culpi, who is in his second phase with the club. Nichols has been one of the A-League's stand-out players this season and has emerged as one of the best local candidates for consideration for Ange Postecoglou's World Cup squad. Postecoglou, who coached him at Brisbane when he was part of the dual title-winning Roar side, brought him south to Victory for the start of the A-League season. Victory fought hard and succeeded in retaining captain Mark Milligan during the pre-season period after the club received a bid from English Premier League struggler Crystal Palace for the Socceroo regular. New coach Kevin Muscat is likely to fight just as hard to retain Nichols for his team's assault on the A-League title as Postecoglou, who was then in charge, did to retain Milligan.