Football transfers 'defy credit crunch'

Law firms have been busy helping with image rights deals in the Premier League transfer window, new figures show.

Brabners Chaffe Street worked on around 30 separate moves over the period including the £80 million deal which saw Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo move to Real Madrid, the Lawyer reported.

Meanwhile, Taylor Wessing helped with the acquisition of Portsmouth Football Club by investors from the Middle East in August.

Speaking to the news source, Brabners sports partner Matthew Bennett, who worked on the Ronaldo deal on behalf of Manchester United, said that the recession had not made too much of an impact on the league, which is known to be the world’s richest.

’While total transfer spending in the Premier League appears to be slightly down on last year, the football transfer market has overall remained largely resilient in the face of the economic downturn,’ he commented.

Ronaldo’s image rights formed a crucial part of the world-record deal, with the player having become one of the world’s most-bankable sports stars over recent years.

Reports in June suggested that the distribution of the rights had formed a sticking point of the deal, though they were eventually resolved.

The Daily Mail indicated that Ronaldo’s agent had been lobbying for his client to own 60 per cent of the rights.ADNFCR-2318-ID-19348839-ADNFCR