Football Business: La Liga club Sevilla reach three-year kit sponsorship deal with Nike

Congrats to La Liga’s own Sevilla, as the have just announced a new three-year kit sponsorship with Nike.

Nike will take pole position as the Seville club’s technical sponsor until the end of the 2020/21 season, creating the squad’s match and training kit as well as a range of new merchandise for the clubs fanbase.

Rival and domestic brand New Balance has seen its five-year deal with Sevilla expire at the end of this 2017-18 season, with Sevilla providing confirmation over their impending partnership with Nike following several months of negotiation between both parties.

The financial terms of the contract have yet to be disclosed, but reports in Spain describe the deal as “more than favourable” for Sevilla.

Sevilla finished this past 2017/18 La Liga season in seventh place, ensuring qualification for the UEFA Europa League in the 2018/19 season. Even though they have won this competition three times in the last four years, we wonder if Nike will be pushing the club to have consistent top 4 aspirations in La Liga.

Do you think Sevilla will have the consistent performance needed in domestic and foreign competition to eventually keep their Nike partnership after 2021?

Torres to leave Atletico at the end of the current campaign

Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres has confirmed that he will be leaving the club at the end of this season. The striker rejoined Atletico Madrid in 2015 after playing for Liverpool and Chelsea in the English Premier League. The player was an instant hit at the Merseyside club before moving to Chelsea as he scored 65 goals in 102 league appearances. By the time he joined Chelsea, the player was already suffering from an injury which kept him out for some time before returning to the first team fold. Eventually, he made his way back to feature for his club but he was never the same player again. Torres struggled to replicate his form from his old club and it was evident that he was a 50m flop added to the list of big money strikers that moved to Chelsea and failed to make it. Fernando Torres finally got his wishes of returning to his boyhood club Atletico in 2015 and he could not miss it. He was called back by the coach, Diego Simeone, whom he had played with during his first stint at the club. This move saw the resurgence of a player who became important for the club especially in crucial games like the Madrid derby and against Barcelona as well where he scored a number of goals that terrorized the opponents. ‘El Nino’ as he is nicknamed, has amassed 92 goals so far for Atletico Madrid in both stints. He has seen limited opportunities at his club of his dreams especially after the club brought back another prodigal son in Diego Costa who had left for Chelsea. Torres vowed that he will still be playing football next season but it will not be in Atletico colors. The player still feels good and wants to contribute more than what he is doing in Atletico. Whom do you think needs a striker like him in the summer?

Special: Ronaldo equals Messi’s five Ballon d’Or wins

Cristiano Ronaldo was crowned 2017 best football player in the world. He now equals Messi’s five Ballon d’Or wins and sits level with the Argentinian atop the footballing elite. Cristiano enjoyed another standout campaign as he led Real Madrid to their first La Liga BBVA title in 5 years, tallying 25 goals and 6 assists. Perhaps, even more impressive were his 12 Champions League goals that helped secure Madrid their third trophy CL trophy in 3 years. The 2017 Ballon marked the seventh time in seven years that both the Portuguese Star and Messi finished in the top two for the award. You’d have to go back to 2007 for the last time another player won the award, when Kaka lifted the trophy after a legendary season with AC Milan.

With the 2018 World Cup on the horizon, it’s hard not to imagine Ronaldo and Messi are itching at another opportunity to distinguish themselves as the best once more. As for 2017, players who placed after first and second were Brazil’s Neymar at third and Juventus’ Buffon at fourth. Hear more from Cristiano on his special moment and checkout a Complete 2017 list of Ballon d'Or rankings with club/country.