Gill hits back in sponsors row

MANCHESTER UNITED chief executive David Gill has hit back at gaming company Mansion for publicly pulling the plug on shirt sponsorship negotiations, while promising the Old Trafford club will soon be in a position to reveal “the best deal for the club”.

Mansion made claims of “double dealing” and withdrew from negotiations for a £70million deal, insisting they did not realise United were talking to other groups.

The club initially denied this in a statement, but now Gill has hit back, saying: “They chose to go public. If you look at the facts behind what they said, we clearly didn’t agree to an exclusivity period.

“Every meeting I was at, or one of my team was at, we made it clear that was the case.”

Gill said: “We’re very comfortable that we dealt with it very appropriately and we believe we will be announcing a deal that is seen to be the best deal for the club. It’s important to know it’s only the third sponsor in the history of Man United so we’ve got to get the best deal for the club.”

Mansion believed they were in pole position to replace Vodafone with what would have been a world record shirt sponsorship deal, but now it is believed that US finance company AIG could step in.

Mansion accused United of using them as a stalking horse to attract alternative sponsors, despite their willingness to pay more than the £15million a year Juventus receive from Libyan oil company Tamoil and Samsung’s £10million-a-year contract with Chelsea.

United are believed to have had reservations about a high-profile deal with the betting industry, a fact demonstrated by Mansion chief executive David Kinsman’s admission that at no time during talks did he meet any of the Glazer brothers who are now on the Old Trafford board.

By contrast, Bryan Glazer is believed to have been involved in negotiations with AIG and it will be regarded as a coup by the controversial owners if they secure such a massive contract.