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A new Everton stadium could see the club’s coffers boosted by £100m through naming rights to the ground.

The club is understood to be looking at options for a new stadium after plans for a move to Walton Hall Park as part of a wider regeneration scheme were abandoned last week.

Two options – a waterfront site on dockland to the north of the city centre and the council-owned Stonebridge Cross site in Croxteth are understood to be likely sites at present.

According to Liverpool University’s Tom Cannon, a professor of strategic development, if the move takes place it could be “a marriage made in heaven”.

Prof Cannon said if they do seek a sponsor for the ground a Premier League club such as Everton would be likely to look for a long term deal

He said: “They could be looking for something like £100m over 10 years – but the number of people doing that are few and far between, as are the number of opportunities such as this.

“The big deals tend to be with international airlines, for example, who would want to see Everton playing in Europe.

“If Everton can get a deal like Arsenal’s it could be a big boost for the club – but a lot of clubs have been looking to secure these deals.

“The best deals have been associated with new stadiums and if they [Everton] get a new stadium and find the right sponsor it could be a marriage made in heaven.”

He said the club could potentially emulate the success of Arsenal with the Emirates stadium and Manchester City with the Etihad.

But he warn that naming rights can still be a difficult issue in terms of persuading potential sponsors to pay out and said: “There can be a big gap between what a club thinks it’s worth and what people will pay.”

Prof Cannon added having a new stadium provides an opportunity for naming rights deals that are less likely to upset fans then when an existing, beloved ground gets renamed.

He said: “It was much easier in the case of City and Arsenal as they had new or very nearly new stadiums, and did not face the problems for example that [Newcastle’s] St James Park did which was under discussion, and which generated a great deal of hostility from the fans.

“In the case of stadiums that already exist fans want to use the historic name but if Everton are getting a new stadium then it might be different.”

In 2011 Manchester City made a deal with the Abu Dhabi government-owned airline Etihad reportedly worth more than £10m a year.

The following year Arsenal agreed a £150m deal with airline Emirates for continued shirt sponsorship and the club’s home continuing to be known as Emirates Stadium up to 2028.