Kieran Maguire tips Everton to strike new £300m deal amid Alisher Usmanov news – ‘It’s amazing’
Everton will not struggle to find another stadium sponsor who will pay at the same rate as Alisher Usmanov.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the naming rights at Bramley Moore Dock.
The Toffees are due to move their new 53,000-seater home in 2024, but they will do so without the financial backing of Russian billionaire Usmanov.
He is one of a number of Russian business elites to have been sanctioned by the UK Government following the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The oligarch had a £30million first-refusal deal in place to sponsor the stadium but is now unable to take it up.
The Daily Mail reported last Saturday (5 March) that a 20-year deal could have been worth up to £15m-a-year if certain criteria were met.
But Maguire insists that the Merseysiders will find alternative sources to plug the £300m hole.
“I don’t think they’ll struggle,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“I think the £300m that was quoted is the maximum possible they could have got from Usmanov over the maximum possible number of years.
“The stadium, it’s amazing. Obtaining naming rights should be feasible.
“It’s a new stadium in a new part of town, so I don’t see this as being too much of a negative.
“Also, Usmanov had not committed to the naming rights.
“They have history and heritage of being in the Premier League. That is the sort of thing that sponsors like to be connected to because it looks good.”
Usmanov has abandoned his naming rights deal at Everton’s Finch Farm training base, as well as a shirt deal with the women’s team.
The club also announced last week that their front-of-shirt deal with Cazoo will end at the close of this season.
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