Abu Dhabi: Veteran Irish winger Damien Duff is desperate to reward Melbourne City FC’s ‘amazing’ Abu Dhabi owners with silverware, to match the Australian outfit’s sister club Manchester City’s success over the past few years.

The Hyundai A-League side were bought by the owner of defending English Premier League champions City, Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE and Minister of Presidential Affairs, last year.

Melbourne are part of the City Football Group, which includes Man City and New York City FC, and Duff says he is hugely impressed with the way Shaikh Mansour has helped transform the former from underachievers to serial winners.

“You just have to see the work they have done with Manchester City,” he enthused to Gulf News after a training session in Abu Dhabi, where his side are on a 12-day camp. “If you’d asked me 10 years ago would they be challenging for titles, I’d have said: ‘No chance’. But look at them now.

“They’re one of the biggest and best clubs in the world. Obviously it’s [Melbourne] a work in progress at the moment. It’s still early days. But they’ve come and spoken to us as well and are as desperate for success as we are.”

Melbourne are currently sixth in the A-League, which is taking a break until next month while Australia hosts the ongoing Asian Cup.

The league culminates in an end-of-series play-off involving the top six teams and then a grand final — and Duff is keen for him and his teammates to ‘kick on’ for the sake of the club’s custodians.

“As players, we hope that we can repay them on the pitch when we get back to Australia and can challenge for trophies, year in and year out,” the 35-year-old said. “But we are building the foundations, so it’s an exciting time.”

Duff surprisingly left English Championship side Fulham for Australia last summer, after an impressive career in England that saw him play for Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea and Newcastle United, while winning 100 caps for his country.

Yet he insists he has not opted for an easy life after his former glories.

“It’s been a tough challenge,” he said. “I certainly haven’t come for a holiday. It’s a tough league. It’s a similar standard to the Championship [second tier] back home. Obviously it’s not the English Premier League.

“But listen, it’s tough, it’s aggressive and a very competitive league. Any team can beat each other. There’s a salary cap, so the teams are level enough and every week makes for an exciting game.”

Duff added that he had offers from Major League Soccer clubs in the United States and some in England before joining Melbourne, but stressed: “I just wanted to try something new for myself and for my family. It’s good for them to go and see the world.”

He said he had never been approached by any teams in the UAE, however, conceding that the chance to ply his trade in the Emirates had probably passed as he was in the ‘home straight of my career’.

Nevertheless, Duff enjoyed pitting his wits against the country’s best when Melbourne lost 2-0 to Arabian Gulf League leaders Al Jazira in a friendly last Sunday.

Of the defeat to the club who are also owned by Shaikh Mansour, he said: “It was probably an interesting game for the owner to watch his two teams play against each other. It was probably a bigger game for us than people thought it was.

“We were desperate to do well. Obviously it wasn’t meant to be and it was a disappointing result, but they’re a good team.”

Football faces stiff competition Down Under from the likes of Australian rules football, cricket and rugby to capture a sports-mad public’s hearts — but Duff says it continues to grow in popularity.

He said: “It’s getting bigger. We had the derby there against Melbourne Victory recently and there were 45,000 to 50,000 people there. It doesn’t get any bigger than that for me.

“So yeah, it’s getting bigger, but obviously we’re up against some top sports. Aussie rules is massive. People are mad into their rugby. You’re always going to have that competition.

“It’s probably a bit like America, but hopefully it will get bigger.”

Renowned names such as Italian great Alessandro Del Piero, a 2006 World Cup winner, and former England striker Emile Heskey’s appearances in the league in recent years have helped boost its profile.

Spain’s all-time leading goalscorer, David Villa, who joined Melbourne on loan from sister club New York City last summer, was similarly effective in this respect — much to Duff’s delight.

“He was a lovely guy, very humble, considering what he has done in the game,” he said. “You never know, he might come back again. The lads loved having him around. It was good for the lads to play with a player of his quality.”

Of his own future, Duff admits he is not looking ‘long-term’, given that he is 36 in March.

He then envisages beginning a coaching career because a life without football would be unfathomable.

“I think I will definitely have to do the [coaching] badges and tick the boxes,” he said. “Football’s been my whole life. I’m not really interested in many other things.”