Alan Pace 'blinded' by 'pressure' of collapsed Burnley deal
Burnley chairman Alan Pace was likely to blame for the club's failed shirt sponsorship with Finotive One.
That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the Clarets likely prioritised the deal with the highest price and didn't look beyond that.
The Championship side tore up their sponsorship deal with the trading company after just 42 days, and have now agreed a new partnership with car dealers Vertu.
Wyness believes that Burnley were likely "blinded" by a big-money offer from their initial partners, and didn't do the required level of due diligence into the company's background.
He outlined that the club hierarchy were likely putting "pressure" on the commercial team to secure the most cost-effective deal, which led to a mistake being made.
The club were forced to refund supporters who had purchased a 2026-27 shirt with Finotive One's logo on it, which also proved to be a costly event.
Burnley must question themselves internally
Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that Burnley must question themselves internally as to how they allowed such a collapse to take place.
He warned that clubs really need to be more careful when it comes to taking on new sponsorship deals, rather than allowing the money on offer to cloud their judgement.
Speaking on Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, Wyness explained how the Clarets should have approached their front-of-shirt sponsorship.
"Well, this is the problem with the commercial team, and probably the pressure from above from Alan Pace and the owners at Burnley saying, get the highest price. And the highest price isn't always the best deal," he said.
"That's the reality of it, and sometimes things that seem too good to be true are too good to be true, and you've got to be so careful in this world of crypto trading and financial tech.
"While it's certainly a market that has proven to be lucrative, you've got to be careful as to which sponsor and partner you're going to work with, and it does seem in this case that they were blinded by a higher price and the due diligence wasn't done on them properly.
"Sometimes it's quality of revenue, not quantity of revenue, and Vertu Motors could prove to be the saviour of the club, and they will come out of this very, very well and at a more competitive price.
"They won't be the first club that's had problems like this, but certainly it seems that the pressure internally was forcing something a bit too hard. And so I'd question that approval process. And certainly you've got to look at it as a club."
Burnley had deadline-day offer rejected for Swansea star
Football Insider revealed earlier this week that Burnley failed with a last-minute attempt to sign Swansea striker Zan Vipotnik on deadline day.
The Clarets sold Zian Flemming to Ipswich Town in a £20million deal, and tried to flip their cash boost straight onto Vipotnik.
However, they swiftly saw their offer rejected by the Swans, who would have been left with no chance to replace their star man.
Vipotnik has faced significant interest after his 25-goal haul last term, but he will be in Swansea colours again for 2026-27.