Aston Villa winger Stewart Downing’s half a million pound secret deal with adidas was revealed in court during a trial of his former agent in a case of fraud.
He signed the deal in 2005 when he was playing for Middlesbrough to receive £100,000 a year plus VAT and performance based bonuses for three years. He was endorsing the adidas F50 and he renewed the deal in 2008 which means more money maybe.
In 2005, Downing was only 20 years old and it is not really an investment in youth if you’re handing such big amounts to 20 year olds. Although, Middlesbrough made it to the UEFA Cup final that year.
The original deal which ran through 2005 to 2008 was made on his behalf by his former agent Ian Elliott, a licensed FIFA agent. The financial details were revealed at the York Crown Court on the third day of the fraud case against Elliott.
The 53 year old agent is accused of siphoning off hundreds of thousands of pounds of Downing’s money into his own failed business interests.
The deal was revealed to the jury as part of the details regarding Downing’s finances. The details were also confirmed by the senior sports marketing manager for adidas UK.
Middlesbrough club secretary also provided evidence that payments were made by the Teesside club to Ian Elliott for his involvement in negotiation.
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