Note that the 6 mil price tag, nor the 5 mil offer is sourced. Also, so called 'merger' talks with South Melbourne are now confirmed as trying find a partner to run W-League and NYL teams, with some games to be played in Aus (likely the 2 or 3 currently played in Melbourne - but that is my own speculation).
Given that we now know the Phoenix licence is territorial to NZ, and the price the FFA want for an expansion licence is $15mil, I find this very hard to believe. In fact, buried further in the article is this
"whilst the Phoenix are seeking to maintain a footprint in the form of team colours, or a percentage of ownership"
So entirely consistent with what Morrison is saying. They are happy to talk to potential expansion bids about partnerships, but not interested is selling in full.
what is it these days with people expecting journos to reveal their sources? - the head of the Brisbane Strikers and South Melbourne have both said they have been in talks with the Phoenix, which is something Morrison admitted as well (although without naming the parties) . Of course they aren't going to reveal how much they are willing to spend, hence the use of the word they understand, ie they've been told a figure but as its a commercial deal no one will officially admit to it
While the Phoenix licence is territorial to NZ, am pretty sure the FFA wouldn't have a problem changing that if it meant they'd get rid of the Phoenix
I'm more worried about these rumours than the initial ones, partly because it seems Morrison wants some sort of merger
The South Melbourne deal would have seen them running a Youth and Women's team and some games played at Souths -it's bad enough having a couple of games in Auckland each year. (I'm guessing it would have been more than 2 at Souths)