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Melbourne City snap up Duff deal

Melbourne City have announced the signing of former Republic of Ireland winger Damien Duff on a one-year deal.

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Duff, 35, is out of contract this summer after five years at Fulham, who were relegated to the Championship last season.

The midfielder started his senior career at Blackburn before moving to Chelsea, where he won two Premier League titles, and then Newcastle.

The addition of Duff at Manchester City-owned Melbourne City follows last week's high-profile capture of Spanish striker David Villa for a 10-game guest stint at the start of the 2014-15 A-League season.

Of Duff's arrival, head coach John van't Schip told the club's official website: "We're excited to have a player of Damien's quality and experience for this season.

"We believe he can offer international standard quality on the pitch and will also be a great professional example for our younger players.

"His career speaks for itself. He has achieved almost everything at club level and has been a great player at an international level too.

"He comes to us straight from the English Premier League with Fulham, so he has been playing at the highest level against top teams and top players.

"When we met with Damien, he was excited about the opportunity here and keen to work with us to help make this project a success."

Melbourne City also confirmed they have extended the contracts of Benjamin Garuccio and Stefan Mauk.