Kieran Maguire: Steven Gerrard may have personally helped Aston Villa engineer new Castore deal
Steven Gerrard's personal relationship with the owners of sportswear brand Castore may have been decisive in the new Aston Villa kit deal.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider after Villa announced the technical partnership on Tuesday (31 May).
The multi-year deal is Castore's third foray into the Premier League market, with Newcastle United and Wolves also represented by the Manchester-based firm.
Castore supplied the kit for Gerrard's old side Rangers, whom he left when offered the Villa job in November last year.
Maguire argues that Gerrard may have used his links with fellow Scousers Tom and Phillip Beahon, the owners of Castore, to engineer the new Villa deal.
"I think Villa are going to leverage on the Gerrard brand here," he told Football Insider's Adam Williams.
"He is friendly with the Castore owners and is a brand in his own right. This would help them in terms of volume of sales.
"Villa appear to be going places. They are quite aggressive in the transfer market. I think now they are also keen to move on from a season that didn't quite deliver on expectations.
"Gerrard certainly helped the club progress and I think this is part of the overall strategy for growth."
Gerrard's Villa side finished 14th in the Premier League in 2021-22.
Castore take over from Kappa, who produced Villa's kit for three seasons.