City set for stadium deal

Manchester City are set to sell the rights to their Eastlands home pitch, with shirt sponsor Etihad Airways frontrunners to land the deal.

City were granted permission by local council to change the name of their ‘City of Manchester Stadium’ base, helping their bid to conform to UEFA’s new Financial Fair Play rules.

New laws require clubs to be close to breaking even within three years of competing in European football, or surrender their Champions League or Europa League places.

Last season, City posted a loss of 121 million pounds.

City’s decision to sell stadium naming rights is reminiscent of Arsenal’s move to rename their Ashburton Ground after airline Emirates in 2006 in a deal expected to generate the Gunners 100 million pounds in revenue by 2021.