Kieran Maguire: Man City could be ‘burnt’ by sponsor mystery that’s ‘flown under the radar’
Man City could “get their fingers burnt” by the controversy surrounding their commercial tie-in with Wega.
So says finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about City’s partnership with the mysterious Swiss firm.
Analysis from Off The Pitch last Friday (28 January) revealed that Wega has no staff or active products and is being run out of a London mailbox.
City have been formally involved with the contactless payments company since 2015.
The club was forced to abandon a partnership with crypto company 3Key last month in similar circumstances.
Maguire claims that City’s researchers may not have performed adequate background checks before embarking on the Wega deal.
“Issues of this nature tend to fly under the radar as far as fans are concerned,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“City normally do a lot of due diligence. This appears to be one that has fallen in between the gaps.
“But it does show that chasing the cheque without doing proper background work comes at a price.
“There won’t be any reputational damage but we have seen a few clubs get their fingers burnt with ‘white label’ organisations.
“If City have been paid, that is fine. If they haven’t been, that would be a concern for the club.”
City posted commercial revenues of £217.6million for the 2020-21 season.
They also signed commercial deals with UAE-based firms Masdar, Aldar and Emirates Palace in January.
In other news, medical expert issues “massive” Kevin De Bruyne verdict after official Man City reveal today