Manchester City confirm stadium will be renamed

Manchester City have confirmed the City of Manchester Stadium at Eastlands will be renamed the Etihad Stadium after striking a 10-year partnership agreement with Etihad Airways.

The stadium rebranding was just one of several commercial deals announced by City chief executive Garry Cook and James Hogan, chief executive of the airline.

Cook said: "We are delighted to be expanding our relationship with Etihad Airways through this comprehensive partnership agreement.

"Most importantly, in addition to delivering significant revenue at a key stage in the club's evolution, the agreement creates exciting opportunities for our two organisations to co-operate more deeply commercially and on media and community initiatives in the future."

The move is not a surprise given City were taken over by an Abu Dhabi-based consortium in 2008, since when Sheikh Mansour has ploughed in excess of £1billion into the club, a sizeable portion of which has gone on transfers.

City secured their first silverware in 35 years last season when they lifted the FA Cup.

However, they also posted recorded losses of £121.3million pounds.

Such a sum would hardly trouble the City hierarchy if it were not for UEFA's new financial fair play regulations, which came into force this summer.

City are working tirelessly to reduce the losses and whilst qualification for the Champions League will help, selling the naming rights, as agreed by Manchester City Council, is another important factor.

However, they will not be allowed to report an inflated sum in an attempt to balance the books as UEFA have previously warned all European clubs commercial deals would be subject to scrutiny to ensure everyone adheres to the new regulations.