Mulvey wasted little time in starting the search, departing for Europe the week after Brisbane's grand final success on a trip that was part-business, part-holiday as he assessed a number of candidates.

He said Brisbane were shopping at the "high end of town", including a player currently deployed in the German Bundesliga, but a deal was unable to be closed.

He said the club was in no hurry to rush into a new signing and urged fans to have patience in the process as the Roar scoured potential candidates to add firepower in the front end.

"We were shopping at the high end of town but we didn't manage to land one of them. But the inbox is full so we're not being idle. Some of our best performances last year were with the players we have out there now," Mulvey said.

"We're just looking to add to the quality of the squad. We want to evolve and every other club is out there working damned hard right now."

Brisbane has set the standard in terms of imports, with Thomas Broich and Berisha two of the most successful in the A-League's short history. Fans will expect similar quality from their next acquisition.

The Roar began their pre-season watched on by injured Socceroo Ivan Franjic, who has had surgery on a hamstring tear and will spend some time overseas recovering before joining the squad.

Fellow Socceroo Matt McKay is currently on a post World Cup break and will have minor ankle surgery before taking to the track with his Roar teammates.