Coventry City match Atletico Madrid with new £1.6m deal - Insider
Coventry City are trying to follow in Atletico Madrid's footsteps by working to control the entire area surrounding the CBS Arena.
That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who has praised the Sky Blues for their new deal to buy a car park next to their home from the local council.
The newly-promoted Premier League club have struck a £1.6million deal for the site, which is on the opposite side of the A444 from their stadium.
Wyness believes that Coventry chairman Doug King deserves huge praise for the way the club have developed in recent years, and feels they are now trying to turn the areas surrounding their stadium into more "revenue-producing" projects.
The club are set to pay for the land over the next 10 years, with all of the money going into their own Sky Blues in the Community charity.
There are currently no plans to change the use of the land away from a car park, but the club will now benefit from the money that it generates.
Keith Wyness compares Coventry deal to Atletico Madrid
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 City are effectively copying a plan that he was previously involved in at Atletico Madrid.
The Spanish giants played their first game at their new Wanda Metropolitano stadium back in 2017, but during the planning process, a great emphasis was placed on the land surrounding the ground.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, Wyness explained how Coventry's car park deal essentially follows the same school of thought.
"It's a great story really what Doug King has done at Coventry. Don't forget they were stadium hopping not so long ago, like sleeping on people's sofas almost, and they've managed to get control of the stadium back," he said.
"Now what they're trying to do obviously is control the perimeter around the stadium. The car park's part of that.
"What becomes important now for clubs, and a big trend now as well, I mean, we did it with Atletico Madrid, is that the stadium zone is important, not just the stadium, and you've got to turn that into more revenue-producing situations.
"They've managed to do a great deal with the council at £1.6m at a brilliant price. I'm surprised the council didn't want more for that. But nevertheless, they're obviously helping the club get going, which is quite right because it's a big revenue earner for the whole city in general.
"I expect them to get more of that stadium zone land around there and to create something special, more revenue-producing for them. The key to them, of course, will be staying in the Premier League if possible."
Coventry 'planning for next 20 years'
Former Manchester City financial advisor Stefan Borson told Football Insider that Coventry are "planning for the next 20 years" with their move to take on the car park.
The football finance expert believes the club will be creating a long-term vision for how they want the area surrounding their stadium to look in future.
Borson also pointed out that Coventry may have to accept potentially "bouncing up and down" between the Premier League and the Championship for a few years while they set their vision in motion.
Frank Lampard's side have seen an upturn in form in recent weeks, and will be hoping to finish on the right side of the dotted line at the end of the campaign.