City plan to soar with Etihad deal

Manchester City chief executive Garry Cook has claimed the club has an "aggressive" five-year commercial plan aimed at allowing them to compete with Europe's elite.

Although there has been no official figure placed on the wide-ranging deal with Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airlines that was announced, it has been suggested by one source the overall sum could eventually run into "hundreds of millions".
It has been claimed the scope of the deal will go far beyond the naming rights of Eastlands - which for the next 10 years will be known as the Etihad Stadium - and an extension of the current shirt sponsorship.
Already, the area around the ground has been named Etihad Campus, whilst it is hoped an ongoing consultation process with local residents may shortly allow City to unveil plans for a training complex on land the club already own virtually next to the stadium.
Even this on its own will not bridge the gap in commercial revenues.
In City's accounts to May, 2010, they posted commercial income of £52.8million. Their neighbours from Old Trafford in contrast are about to become the first club to shatter the £100million barrier.
Cook knows the work must continue if the Blues are to meet UEFA's financial fair play target, which allow them to lose just £39.7million over the next three years, hence the bold plans underlined.
"It is well documented where the major clubs sit with regard to their revenue lines," he said. "But we have tremendous opportunity here.
"We have delivered, in the last three years, success through investment in our future.
"That future will reap commercial reward.
"Those targets and plans are laid out over the next five years.
"The ambition is to continue that growth and be able to compete with the largest clubs in the European market."
City have already pledged to work within UEFA's Financial Fair Play constraints, which caused manager Roberto Mancini some angst earlier in the summer.
Differences between the Italian and the Blues hierarchy have now been sorted out, although Cook still has the problem of trying to offload a number of high-profile, high earners, more than capable of trying to destabilise the club, as Craig Bellamy and Emmanuel Adebayor, proved with damning interviews.
In addition, rival outfits such as Bayern Munich are annoyed after finding it far harder than they imagined to get hold of players City do want; Jerome Boateng in this instance.
"They are going to have 48 players under contract," grumbled Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in an interview with Spox.
"But you can only name 25 and last year they lost £123million.
"Under the new rules of the 'financial fair play' with these numbers you wouldn't get a license, that's for sure. Maybe they know a trick I do not.
"They may have an owner with no financial worries but we certainly do not pay astronomical prices."
Bellamy, Adebayor, Wayne Bridge and Nedum Onuoha were amongst those expected to be left behind when City left for their three-match US tour, which should boost the club's profile even further given it concludes with an encounter against David Beckham's LA Galaxy on July 24.
Certainly, Manchester City Council appear happy with the Blues' progress, with leader Sir Richard Leese claiming it will pocket around £20million from the club over the next five years following an amendment to the long-term agreement to use the stadium.
"Earlier in the year, we formally agreed a new rental agreement for the stadium," said Leese.
"We did that in an open, transparent and accountable way.
"That gave us an increased income stream over the length of the rental agreement.
"We will invest that back into the community."