Roma: new Chinese sponsor

By Football Italia staff

Roma are negotiating with China Southern Airlines for a new sponsorship deal worth an impressive €15m per season.

The Giallorossi have been without an official sponsor since the end of the 2012-13 season, when they still had a deal with communications company Wind for €5.5m per season.

As Milan seem close to selling to Chinese investors and Inter follow suit, Roma are now finding new capital from the Far East as well.

According to the financial newspaper Milano Finanza, China Southern Airlines are in talks with Roma President James Pallotta to become the team's main sponsor.

Representatives from the Chinese group have already flown to Rome, while the negotiations are being led by the club's marketing director Laurent Collette, formerly employed at Barcelona.

Collette is one of a number of new managers brought in by Pallotta, and was responsible for the sponsorship deal between Qatar Airways and the Blaugrana, worth €36m per year.

The deal he is currently aiming for with Roma is not quite as lucrative, but at €15m per year it's still a very substantial upgrade on the team's previous sponsorship's contracts.

It's still uncertain whether CSA will agree to that sum, but if they do, it would let Roma overtake Inter's sponsorship deal with Pirelli, which is worth €10m, and approach Milan and Juventus, who have €17m deals in place with Emirates and Jeep respectively.

Only Sassuolo have a richer sponsorship deal in Serie A, with €22m annually from Mapei, but in their case the situation is a bit different, as the club and the sponsor are owned by the same person.

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