Sources: Man City have just made critical behind-the-scenes appointment amid £309m reveal
Man City have appointed a new commercial tsar tasked with sourcing new sponsorship deals in a key market, sources have told Football Insider.
The new recruit will head up the EMEA – Europe, the Middle East and Africa – department and will report to both Man City and parent company City Football Group.
The identity of the appointment is not yet known but Football Insider understands that the organisation has chosen to bring in a new face rather than promote from within.
City Football Group owns stakes in 12 football teams worldwide, with five of those situated in Europe.
The multi-club network does not currently have an outpost in Africa or the Middle East but does have an abundance of location-specific commercial interests, particularly in the latter territory.
Man City boasted staggering commercial revenue of £309.4million in 2021-22, a figure which accounted for over half of their total turnover.
City Football Group’s income from sponsorship and merchandising in 2020-21, the most recent financial year accounted for, totalled £307.3m.
That number is likely to soar when the group releases its books for 2021-22, a period which saw a number of landmark sponsorship deals signed as well as the return of pre-pandemic levels of merchandise sales.
There have been changes afoot at the most senior rung on the City Football Group ladder of late, with the Silver Lake group upping its stake at the expense of China Media Capital.
The news, which was esclusively revealed by Football Insider, means CMC now own just a one per cent stake in the company, with Abu Dhabi and Silver Lake holding 81 per cent and 18 per cent shares respectively.
In other news, pundit claims Erling Haaland’s “weakness” has finally been exposed as footage emerges from Man City.