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Manchester City have announced two fresh new sponsorship deals, with one insider now stating how the club 'believes they are innocent'.
The Cityzens have been going toe-to-toe with the Premier League for the best part of three years, ever since it was alleged they bent the rules on 115 occasions when it came to off-the-pitch sponsorship agreements.
Manchester City have agreed new sponsorship deals, with 115 charges still looming
Those new signings will have been helped by the backing of banking coorperation Revolut and Chinese firm BYD, both of which have decided to jump on board with City in the last few weeks.
Revolut's deal is more to prolong their association with the club, becoming the back-of-shirt sponsor for the men's squad in domestic cup fixtures, whilst BYD appears on the shirt sleeve of the training strip for both the men's and women's squads.
Former Liverpool, Chelsea and Aston Villa chief executive Christian Purslow believes companies of Revolut and BYD's calibre would not jump on board if a huge, never-before-seen sanction was heading their way, and says their case is only ever likely to end one way.
"They are the only club to have £700m of revenue three times. I would also say that one metric the business community would apply to the health of top football clubs is the quality of calibre of sponsors and sponsorship deals, and Manchester City in the last week or two have added two commercial partners," Purslow said on The Football Boardroom Podcast.
"One is BYD, the Chinese EV maker, one of the fastest growing companies in the world, the dominant EV maker in the world nudging ahead of Tesla. Every single football club in the world would want BYD as their automotive car partner; they've gone to Manchester City.
"There are no suggestions of any links whatsoever from Manchester City's ownership group to BYD - it is a huge public Chinese company.
"Nearer home, the fastest growing fintech company in the world, Revolut, a company that is expected to have a huge public offering in the next year or two, has some of the most prestigious owners in the world.
"Revolut is the fintech banking partner for Manchester City. They're not just a tick, they are a huge endorsement by major business entities that they want their brand associated with Manchester City so any sense that the business community is holding off endorsing Manchester City because it has some as yet undetermined legal case is for the words.
"If Billy Hogan [CEO] at Liverpool was here, or Vinai [Venkatesham, CEO] at Spurs, or Todd Boehly at Chelsea, and they were offered a chance to have Revolut and BYD as sponsors, they would pull your arm off. That, for me, is any argument why I see no reason that City might say they should settle this case or give up or not appeal.
"Why on earth would they draw that? They believe they are innocent, they have a legitimate course of action, I expect them to take it."
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