Etisalat to sign 3-year deal with Man City

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - The UAE's Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) said on Tuesday it had signed an agreement for a three-year sponsorship deal with Premier league club, Manchester City.

The Arab world's second-largest telecommunication's firm said in a statement it had signed a memorandum of understanding, which preceded "a full three-year strategic sponsorship agreement to be formalised later this year."

Abu Dhabi billionaire Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahayan -- who took control of Manchester City in 2008 from Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand's former prime minister -- has transformed the team into title contenders with a series of big money signings including Robinho, Carlos Tevez, Gareth Barry and Emmanuel Adebayor.

Abu Dhabi-based Etisalat did not disclose the size of the proposed deal.

In August 2008, Saudi Telecom Co (STC) unveiled plans to sign a marketing deal with football club Manchester United that could be worth $18.6 million (9.3 million pounds), in its first-ever deal with a non-Saudi football club.

(Reporting by John Irish; editing by Amran Abocar)