?Star signing Damien Duff joined Melbourne City for the first time on Wednesday as the Hyundai A-league club’s pre-season training camp in Manchester kicked off.
?Star signing Damien Duff joined Melbourne City for the first time on Wednesday as the Hyundai A-league club-s pre-season training camp in Manchester kicked off.
Duff, 35, has signed a one-year deal with City and together with Spanish national team star David Villa – who has inked a 10-game guest stint – are the big names at the newly rebadged Aussie club (formerly Melbourne Heart).
Villa will arrive later in the pre-season but for the Republic of Ireland winger, he-s had his first taste of action with his news Melbourne City teammates.
The Hyundai A-League outfit arrived in England on Tuesday this week and by Wednesday had their first session at majority owner Manchester City-s Carrington Training Centre.
City coach John van-t Schip-s squad had a pool session followed by a first training session on English soil. The session commenced in the late afternoon with Manchester City’s first-team having used the facility earlier in the day.
Melbourne City are in town for 17 days to train at the EPL champion-s training base and to play a series of pre-season friendlies ahead of next month-s Westfield FFA Cup round of 32 clash with Sydney FC on Tuesday August 12 (venue TBC).
It-s been a big few days for the Aussie club. They flew off from Melbourne on Monday night after announcing a five-year sponsorship deal with Etihad Airways and launching their new home and away kit.
The new Hyundai A-League season kicks off on October 10. City will host Western Sydney Wanderers in round one.
Round 3 will see City play cross-town rivals Victory in a highly anticipated Melbourne derby at Etihad Stadium on October 25.
Melbourne City FC memberships for the 2014-15 Season are now available at http://membership.melbournecityfc.com.au/.
