Last week it emerged that not the entire Barcelona board fully supported the sponsorship agreement with Nike. The new deal will see Barcelona extend their contract by ten years until 2038, and will earn them between €1.4 billion and €1.7 billion.
On Saturday, Barcelona members approved the deal, but during the meeting president Joan Laporta revealed that Darren Dein had acted as an intermediary. His work earned him 1.65% of the club's money and Nike's 1.25% in the deal. According to Relevo, this amounts to around €50 million.
Darren Dein, son of former Arsenal owner David Dein, and best man at Thierry Henry's wedding, has been involved in a number of major football deals. He was involved in Barcelona's sponsorship deal with Spotify and was previously involved in a potential move for left back Max Aarons to the Blaugrana, a move that was then halted by then coach Ronald Koeman.
Dein's involvement was one of the points of discussion within the board, with the question being asked why the two companies, which have been working together for 25 years, need an intermediary to complete a deal. It seems a particularly sensitive question, given that Barcelona are asking for 60 million euros to be able to register Dani Olmo and Pau Victor for the second half of the season.
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