It was announced this week through a press release by A-league side Melbourne Heart that English Premier League side Manchester City now hold an 80% share in the Melbourne side. Football Federation Australia allowed the purchase of the struggling Melbourne team by the premier league giants to boost the club after season of disappointment and disrepute on and off the pitch.
This purchase has benefits for both sides and the benefits are what make this new partnership and interesting prospect for future football partnerships.
How this partnership will benefit Manchester City:
Manchester City have shown themselves to be a dominate premier league force with a team of superstars and an elite level of play making them clear title contenders in the title race. By acquiring the ownership of Melbourne heart, City have opened up the ability of a feeder club for their academy and squad.
This gives City the rights to all of the Melbourne Heart players that have the ability to play in the Premier League or develop in their academy. Not only do City have that benefit, they also gain a club to loan players to.
City would be able to take young players from their academy and even their first team squad and loan them to the Australian side. This ensures that the players all stay within the Manchester City loop whilst giving them valuable playing time, which they may not have gained in the EPL.
How this partnership will benefit Melbourne Heart:
The benefits for Melbourne Heart are almost endless. With this deal they gain the financial backing of City’s mutli-millionaire owners which allows continuous growth of the club and the ability to utilize the transfer period in the A-league greater than before.
As mentioned before they also have the ability to gain City players from loan deals and feed performing players to the Manchester City academy. This also brings a new concept into the A-league which is still trying to advance to a greater level, as the FFA do not have to financially bolster the Melbourne side as they have done to previous clubs in the past to ensure the club still exists.
This allows them to focus solely on the development of the league. Melbourne Heart surely will be able to turn their disappointing season around as City will want to implement a new style of football not seen in the A-league which will make the Heart a force to be reckoned with.
Overall both clubs have much to gain with this new partnership and it will be interesting to see just how this story develops.