Adelaide United assistant coach Phil Stubbins admits the departure of youngster Michael Marrone will be a major loss for the club.

The 22-year old last week signed with North Queensland Fury, who he will join from June next year, and after a good performance in the 1-0 win over Brisbane Roar, Stubbins sees it as a negative for the club.

"I don't really want to discuss and go on about next year," Stubbins said yesterday.

"We all know the salary cap's in place and everything else and we've got to shuffle the pack.

"On last night's performance he's looking like it's a loss for us. Having said that we still think we have able recruits coming to the club.

"Michael Marrone's performance in the second half was outstanding," Stubbins added.

"The boy was tremendous. He stood up to the play."