Kieran Maguire salutes ‘ultra-elite’ Man City as 11 ‘lucrative’ deals analysed
Man City are “reaping the rewards” in the commercial department for their success in recent years – especially in the Middle East.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about City’s wealth of sponsorship deals in the region.
City have a total of 33 global and 15 regional partnerships and a large share of that commercial firepower is aimed at the Middle East.
The Premier League has recently implemented new measures to ensure that deals with associated parties represent fair market value
Analysis published by Off The Pitch last Friday (11 February) found that 17 Premier League sponsor deals are likely to come under scrutiny as a result.
Of that number, 11 are linked to Abu Dhabi-owned Man City.
But Maguire insists it is no surprise to see the reigning league champions zero in on their owners’ backyard as a market for commercial development.
“City are targeting the Middle East as an area for growth,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“They are able to leverage on the relationship they have with the owners and their contacts over there. This has proven to be lucrative historically.
“They have become intertwined with owners in that particular region. That means the association is beneficial in that part of the world.
“Sponsors are always looking at partnerships at the ultra-elite level. City are now starting to reap the rewards of winning trophies.”
City trousered £217.6million in commercial income in the last financial year alone.
They are the only Premier League side to have posted a profit so far for 2020-21.
In other news, pundit suggests Man City could sell Raheem Sterling to fund Erling Haaland deal after source’s Alfe Inge reveal.