Manchester City Are The New Owners of A-League Team Melbourne Heart: Nightly Soccer Report

Manchester City surprised many tonight when they announced that they, along with a consortium that are the owners of rugby team Melbourne Storm, have acquired Australian soccer team Melbourne Heart. City’s move to buy the club has been already approved by the Football Federation of Australia (FFA), and it immediately gives Manchester City a presence down under as they seek to expand their global brand.

In addition to the Melbourne Heart of the A-League, City is a part-owner of New York City FC, which will begin playing in Major League Soccer in the United States in 2015.

“Manchester City and their partners will bring a high level of expertise in football and sports business matters and that can only strengthen the Melbourne Heart and the Hyundai A-League as a whole,” said FFA CEO David Gallop.

In a statement by Manchester City on its club website, the club said that “out of respect for the coaching staff and the players in the middle of the A-League season, the new ownership group will not be making any major announcements until mid-2014.”

Here are tonight’s world soccer news headlines:

Premier League

• Manchester City are the new owners of Melbourne Heart — FOX Sports Australia
• Chelsea target Everton’s Ross Barkley as Juan Mata replacement — The Telegraph
• Jose Mourinho ‘wants to replace Spaniard with Real Sociedad’s Antoine Griezmann’ — The Mirror
• West Ham eye move for former Liverpool and Chelsea midfielder Raul Meireles — The Mail
• Chelsea to bid for Basel winger Mohamed Salah? — The Pride of London
• Cardiff hope to sign Manchester United winger Wilfried Zaha on loan — BBC Sport
• Spurs close in on £12m sponsorship deal with AIA… that’s £7m less than Levy wanted — The Mail
• Newcastle finally close in on Monchengladbach striker Luuk de Jong — The Independent
• Every time I get a new signing somebody else f*****g takes him!” says Sam Allardyce — Evening Standard
• Was Ki Sung-Yueng loan a result of a snub by Michael Laudrup? — The Swansea Way
• EPL attendance up nearly 3%; Aston Villa leads all clubs in gains at the gate — Sports Business Daily
• Arsene Wenger ‘more focused’ on winning the FA Cup for Arsenal than ever — The Independent
• Man Utd pushed out of football rich list top three — BBC Sport

International soccer

• Louis van Gaal relishing second chance to exorcise the ghost of Holland’s 2002 nightmare — The Telegraph
• Ahead of World Cup, Brazil’s delays have FIFA concerned — NPR
• Fifa gives four-week ultimatum to World Cup stadium in Brazil — The Guardian
• Spain and Australia plans could be hit after Fifa threaten to axe Curitiba stadium — The Independent

Championship

• Cagliari owner Cellino steals a march in race to takeover Championship Leeds — The Mail

The Nightly Soccer Report is tomorrow’s news today. It’s often tomorrow morning’s worldwide newspaper headlines that are published the night before. We do all the work for you, combing the Internet and aggregating the news for you. Read The Nightly Soccer Report on World Soccer Talk every night before bed, so you can stay on top of all the news that matters.