Manchester City's arrival is a game changer for Melbourne and the A-League Manchester City owner Sheik Mansour (L) has a history of long-term support for his investments. Photo: Laurence Griffiths With the single stroke of a pen on Thursday morning, Melbourne Heart went from being the A-League's bastard child to the richest club in the land. Their season has been one to forget - they languish last on the table and have only managed one win in half a season - but those results are already an afterthought. Harry Kewell is set to be eclipsed as the highest-profile player at Melbourne Heart. The decision of Manchester City to buy the embattled Heart is one that has the potential to change the A-League forever and therefore alter the landscape of Australian football. Expect enormous investment to pour from Heart's new HQ, Abu Dhabi, until the club becomes not only the most successful club in Melbourne but the most successful club in the whole country. Of course, in a salary capped league, there are only so many ways to deploy financial muscle. But they are substantial, and can make a huge difference if executed correctly. A Manchester City fan holds a fake British pound note with the face of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan after he bought the club in 2008. Expect Heart to go and buy top quality Australian and international marquee players from next season on, aided by a premium squad. That's just the start. They can now pick a coaching staff from all corners of the globe; money will not be so much an issue as accurately identifying a manager capable of overseeing the huge transition. Melbourne Heart can aspire to build a world class youth academy, the kind that will be impossible to ignore for any Australian youngster should they want a direct link to the English Premier League. The takeover could even force the FFA to re-think some of their rules. At present, when a player is loaned to A-League club, the wages paid by a parent club are not included in the A-League cap. That means if City were to send out one of their reserve team talents - say striker Scott Sinclair, who has been farmed out to West Bromwich Albion this season - it won't count against the salary cap. But before we go awarding the next decade of titles to Heart, it should be noted that it's not the first time an overseas club has bought into an Australian team. In the late 1990s, Scottish club Rangers bought a stake in Northern Spirit, a takeover that many would lead to unparalleled success for the North Sydney-based side. Those ambitions never materialised, and Rangers tried to use Spirit as a vehicle to grow their own brand, not the other way around. When they found Spirit to be a black hole of money, Rangers couldn't get out quick enough. Times have changed since then and it's easy to believe the proclamations of City chief executive Ferran Soriano when he says the club is in it for the long term. Besides, the spending of the man behind all this, Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan - better known as Sheik Mansour - picks his investments wisely, and backs them to the hilt. From mid-table mediocrity, City have gone on to win the FA Cup and Premier League in recent years, are now regulars in the Champions League and are chasing glory in all competitions this season. It has been a sporting revolution like no other. The 80-20 ownership split, with Melbourne Storm's owners, headed by Bart Campbell, taking the smaller stake, will also raise eyebrows. But it's the same theory City are using with the New York Yankees to build New York City FC, a club due to enter the MLS in 2015. The final question, but by no means the least important, is what will happen to the club's existing and future fan base. Having lived in Melbourne Victory's shadow since inception, they are small but hardy lot. Many also claimed to be "pure" football fans - as was Heart's original pitch - which may see some drop off as a result of City-Storm partnership. Still, expect most to embrace it, not least because of the promise of success. As that success rises, the bandwagon will swell, and the Melbourne derby might become more than a decent imitation of the one in Manchester.