7 Jun 2014

Villa to play in A-League

3:58 pm on 7 June 2014

Spain's all-time leading goalscorer David Villa will play a three-month stint with Manchester City-owned Australian club Melbourne City, before returning to New York City for the start of the Major League Soccer season.

The 32-year-old, who hopes to help Spain defend their World Cup title in Brazil this month, will turn out for the club, formerly known as Melbourne Heart, between October and November.

The City Football Group earlier on Wednesday confirmed a long-mooted name change for the Melbourne club, bringing it in line with the Premier League team and sister club New York City.

In its fourth and final season playing under the name Heart, Melbourne finished bottom of the 10-team A-League.