NOVPUB
Chapter 90: Sponsorship Issue
As they walked back toward the office, O’Neill glanced at Richard with a curious expression.
"Richard, where did you find these players?" he asked, still trying to process what he had just witnessed on the pitch.
"What do you mean?" Richard replied casually, adjusting his jacket.
"I mean the Brazilian kid," O’Neill clarified. "Where did they come from?"
Richard chuckled. "Brazil, obviously."
"No, no," O’Neill pressed. "I’m asking how you found them. Players like that don’t just appear out of nowhere."
Richard stopped, turned around, and simply said, "Did you forget? I used to be a scout—and an agent. I have my ways of spotting talent before the rest of the world does."
That was all he said. No further explanation, no detailed story—just a confident, matter-of-fact statement.
With the scrimmage over, City’s pre-season preparations officially kicked off. Richard, having played his part in assembling the squad, handed full control over to O’Neill. From now on, everything was in the manager’s hands.
The pre-season started with an intensive training camp at HMS Raleigh, the Royal Navy’s premier training facility in Cornwall. It was an unconventional choice, but Richard had no other option, as most of their pre-season matches were against non-league clubs—such was the reality of City’s position in the third tier of English football.
O’Neill also saw the benefits. A few weeks of disciplined, high-intensity training under military conditions could toughen up the squad both physically and mentally, preparing them for the long season ahead.
The first few days were brutal. Early morning runs in the cold coastal air, relentless drills, and exhausting strength training sessions had some players questioning their life choices—especially Ronaldo. The coaching staff watched closely, assessing who could handle the pressure of not just the training, but also the conditions they would have to endure in Manchester.
While City was deep into their pre-season preparations, Richard finally made his way back to his office.
Just as he was settling in, his phone rang. It was John, and from his tone, it was clear something urgent had come up. Without wasting any time, Richard hurried to meet him.
"So, what’s the situation?" Richard asked as he took a seat in his office.
John, already prepared, pulled out a stack of papers and scanned through them before looking up. "Most of our outgoing transfers have been completed, and some are still being negotiated."
"Let me take a look," Richard said, reaching for the documents.
John handed them over, and Richard began reading through them carefully. But as he flipped through the pages, his expression darkened.
He glanced up at John, then back at the papers before finally asking, "Are you serious with these numbers?"
John let out a helpless sigh and nodded.
It was a straightforward document listing the players sold, their positions, the clubs they were joining, and the transfer fees. The problem? The prices were laughably low.
Michel Vonk (LB) → Hearts (Scottish Premier League) – £50,000
Paul Walsh (MC) → AIK (Sweden) – £55,000
Fitzroy Simpson (MC) → Cheltenham Town (League One) – £70,000
Out of all the players on the transfer list, these three received the highest offers, which meant that from all 12 players, the highest offer was only £70,000, and that was for just one player, Fitzroy Simpson.
This highlighted how low City’s squad value had fallen. Richard knew the team wasn’t worth much after two disastrous seasons, but he hadn’t expected it to be this bad.
He exhaled sharply and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples. "This is ridiculous..."
How much did Swales and Lee pour into signing all these players?
Probably more than £7 million—and yet, we can’t even recover 10% of that?
The only sale that was remotely decent was Giorgi Kinkladze, who was sold for £5 million but even then, he had originally been bought during Alan Ball’s tenure for £7 million, meaning City had already taken a £2 million loss on him alone.
Richard let out a frustrated sigh and turned to John. "What happened?"
"Demand," John replied flatly. "There just wasn’t any demand for our players."
He continued, shaking his head. "Forget First Division—even Second and Third Division teams weren’t interested in players who had been relegated two seasons in a row. That’s why I had to look beyond England just to move them. No one on the transfer list you gave me attracted much interest, so for some deals, I had to personally reach out and convince clubs to take them."
Richard frowned. "No demand at all?"
John thought for a moment before answering. "Well, there was some demand, but most of it came from these clubs alone. Our players weren’t exactly highly rated to begin with, and with the World Cup just wrapping up, clubs were more focused on signing young, promising talent. The market was filled with better options, so yeah... the fees we got were far from ideal."
"I see..." Richard groaned, rubbing his face. Complaining wouldn’t change the situation now.
"How about our current cash flow?" he then asked.
John let out a heavy sigh. "It’s bad. From your £30 million loan, we’ve already spent most of it—covering the short-term loan’s due payments, penalties, expenses, and the financial hit from relegation. On top of that, many of our sponsors pulled out because of our situation."
He paused before continuing, "Right now, we have only £9 million left in usable funds... and we’re still carrying a long-term debt of £37 million."
Richard leaned back, deep in thought. "What about the sponsors?"
When Manchester City was under the management of the Lee consortium, they made a bold decision to switch their jersey sponsor from Umbro to Kappa, as Umbro was owned by a former vice president of the club.
But now, with the club relegated, Kappa decided to sever ties with City, removing them from their list of partners. This left the club scrambling for a new kit supplier.
As a result, after the sponsorship termination and penalties, the club was left with just three remaining sponsors: Brother International (a printer and electronics company), Cresta (a fruit-flavored sparkling drink brand), and Carlsberg, which still maintained a regional sponsorship deal, though it wasn’t a significant one.
"There are also two new offers for sponsorship," John said as he began explaining the details to Richard.
"Walkers wants to be City’s shirt sponsor. They’re offering a fixed amount of £1 million, paid in four installments throughout the season," he continued.
"The second offer is a bit more complex. It comes from a local business, Mancunian Transport, a Manchester-based transportation company. They’re offering a fixed amount of £500,000," John paused for a moment before continuing. "But they’re also offering bonuses. They’ve proposed £500,000 if we qualify for the playoffs. Both offers are for two years."
John looked at Richard and added, "What if we get promoted?"
"Well, there hasn’t been much talk about it, but if we achieve promotion this year, Mancunian Transport is probably willing to double the sponsorship money for the following season," John replied.
"Two million..." Richard mulled it over.
Originally, he had considered including Rover Group’s name, but then realized it might not be the most effective choice.
Given that Rover itself was still struggling, the marketing impact wouldn’t be ideal. It would be better to wait until Rover was on firmer ground before considering them as a potential sponsor for Manchester City.
"Sign the contract with Mancunian Transport then." Richard confirmed.
The prospect of Mancunian Transport doubling their sponsorship money was generous, and Richard felt confident about securing promotion to the first division.
Though the team hadn’t been in action yet, Richard believed the defense was strong enough to withstand attacks from any club. After that, it was all about hoping for the brilliance of Il Fenomeno’s talent to shine through.
’If it were the first division, it would be a bit more difficult...’ Richard murmured as he mentally ran through the potential scenarios if City were to compete in the first division directly.
’City’s upcoming season will be tough to predict then, even for Richard. Although the squad had talent, he still needed to see how they would gel together as a team. They had the potential for promotion, but the risk of finishing mid-table was also a real possibility in that case’
He was actually very fortunate to start in the third tier. That’s because Ronaldo, Cafu, and Roberto Carlos were still adjusting to the cold weather in England, and the playing style in Brazil and England was vastly different.
Given that, taking a year to adapt was undoubtedly a smart choice for the players, allowing them the time they needed to settle in and acclimate to their new environment.
"Then we’ll go with Mancunian Transport for the main sponsor. What about the kit?" John asked, flipping through some papers.
Richard thought for a moment before replying. "Do you have any ideas?"
"To be honest," John began, "last season there was another supplier that reached out to us—Jako. They were offering to provide all of our kit supplies, including the technical kits and training wear, for the next two seasons. They proposed a deal worth £500,000 per season."
"Which means, it could be said that their offer would be lower this season if we reach out to them."
"That’s right," John confirmed.
Richard leaned back, considering the options.
Sponsorship deals were heavily influenced by the visibility and popularity of a club, and with City now in the second division, they couldn’t reach the same high-profile deals yet. After all, City wasn’t exactly a top-tier draw at the moment. But this, in a way, worked in his favor.
He wasn’t particularly interested in locking City into long-term sponsorship agreements at this point. There were too many uncertainties, and what he needed currently was flexibility—the ability to reassess the situation once City had regained some form and visibility.
After all, it was about rebuilding the brand, not just signing a long-term deal for the sake of it.
Still, he thought it was a win-win situation for both parties. The sponsors wanted something more than just City’s logo on a kit—they wanted to tap into the passionate, die-hard fanbase that still remained.
"John, go with Jako. Accept their offer. And also, regarding the current transfers that are still stalled, try to finalize the deals in the next 10 days, even if we have to sell below market price." Richard made his decision.
"You sure?" John raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, I’m sure," Richard said decisively.
At this point, it was likely that every club was already aware of City’s predicament, with their aggressive moves to sell players and clean up. Now, they were stalling to drive the price lower.
It was bound to happen anyway. Clubs were competing with each other, and one team’s loss was another’s gain.
If they could secure a player for a lower price from one of their competitors, they’d have more money to spend elsewhere to get ahead. So Richard preferred to have all the transfer operations completed in the next 10 days, even if it meant selling at a loss.
After dealing with issue after issue and following instruction after instruction, Richard was finally able to focus on City’s preseason finally.
After a short training camp at HMS Raleigh, City played two friendlies against local non-league sides. They won 3-1 against Torpoint Athletic and 6-0 against Newquay.
In both matches, Richard was surprised to hear the news that it wasn’t Ronaldo or Emile Heskey who managed to shine, but rather the 21-year-old Ole Gunnar Solskjær. His performance was exceptional, and Richard couldn’t help but take notice.
In fact, Solskjær managed to score a hat-trick against Newquay, earning the respect of both the coaches and his teammates. O’Neill even jokingly referred to him as City’s next Shearer.
"This is interesting," he muttered to himself.
After the last two non-league matches, City finally returned to play at Maine Road, where they hosted Droylsden and secured a 3-2 win. 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓅𝓊𝓫.𝒸ℴ𝓶
The Blues continued their preseason buildup with additional games against non-league opposition, winning 4-1 at Altrincham and 7-0 at Congleton Town.
With the final three matches against non-league teams, their preseason warm-up came to an end. But suddenly, O’Neill walked into Richard’s office and requested another friendly match for the squad.
"Why?" Richard asked, surprised. "Five friendly matches should be enough, right?"
"I need more time to refine the formation. Plus, I think we need more matches to help Curle adjust to his new role as a defensive midfielder," O’Neill explained.
Preseason friendlies were important for assessing new players, testing different tactics, and helping the team bond. However, playing too many matches also increased the risk of injuries.
Moreover, playing too much before the season, even in preseason, could have negative effects. If the players played too many games in the buildup and ended up feeling satisfied, tired, and disinterested, their excitement for the official matches would decrease.
So, Richard rejected the idea for another preseason match.
"Why not just do a scrimmage in training instead? Isn’t that better?" he suggested.
