Man City land five-year sponsor deal with Nissan

TOKYO, July 17 (AFP): English Premier League champions Manchester City have landed a five-year sponsorship deal with Japanese automaker Nissan, both parties said on Thursday.

Financial terms of the deal, announced at Nissan's global headquarters in Yokohama, were not disclosed, but City called it the "most significant of its type in the Premier League".

Chevrolet, part of General Motors, sponsors City's bitter cross-city rivals Manchester United, swelling the club's coffers by an estimated $70 million a season.

The partnership between Nissan, which owns Japanese club Yokohama F-Marinos, and City follows an initial agreement in May in which Manchester City's holding company City Football Group (CFG) took a minority stake in Yokohama.

City, who pipped Liverpool to the Premier League title last season in a dramatic run-in, are currently ranked as the world's seventh richest club by Forbes, with Spain's Real Madrid and Barcelona topping the list.

City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak hailed the tie-up with Nissan.