Premier League 2010/2011 Thread

[beavis]

City rename ground

Manchester City announced a hugely lucrative naming rights deal with Etihad Airways which will see their City of Manchester Stadium immediately renamed the Etihad Stadium.

The deal, according to widespread British media reports, is worth a reported £150 million spread over the next 10 years, and will give the club a major revenue boost.

Etihad, the club's major sponsor, is the national airline of Abu Dhabi and is a major coup for the club's wealthy Abu Dhabi owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The Abu Dhabi carrier already have their name emblazoned on the City shirt and it appears that link will now get even stronger.

At a news conference at the stadium, the club also unveiled their own team jet, an Airbus A330 in the team's sky blue colours with their name and badge emblazoned on the sides.

At the same time Etihad Airways announced the introduction of a new twice-daily flight service between Manchester and Abu Dhabi from 1 August.

The club posted recorded losses of £121 million.

Essien suffers more injury woe

Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien has suffered an injury to his right knee during training with the extent of the damage as yet unconfirmed.

The Ghanaian suffered an anterior cruciate knee ligament injury in September 2008 and the news will represent a severe blow to new coach Andre Villas-Boas's plans.

Chelsea are just days into their pre-season training and may well be without the influential midfielder for their tour to Asia, which begins in a fortnight.

Essien, whose previous knee injury confined him to the sidelines for a full 6 months, will undergo tests over the next few days to determine the details of the injury.