The first major effect of Manchester City's purchase of Melbourne Heart could be the A-League football club's name changing to Melbourne City.
The English Premier League giants, in partnership with a group of owners of NRL side the Melbourne Storm, announced Thursday they had acquired the Heart's licence.
The takeover is believed to be worth around $12 million , giving Manchester City a controlling share of 80 percent and minority shareholders the Storm a 20 percent stake.
An application to trademark the name Melbourne City Football Club was lodged by MHFC Holdings Pty Ltd on January 16th - just a week before the takeover was announced, and it's awaiting approval.
Neither Manchester City, the Heart Consortium Group nor the Storm have indicated a name change is on the cards, saying only that they will hold off from making any major announcements until mid-2014 - after this A-League season ends.
Football Federation Australia chief David Gallop described the Manchester City deal as a huge vote of confidence in the Australian league.
