Keith Wyness 'baffled' Aston Villa have agreed potentially 'corrupt' deal

Aston Villa co-owner Nassef Sawiris should have tried to strike a deal with a major Egyptian company rather than Visit Rwanda.

That is according to former Villa chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who has been left confused by the circumstances surrounding his former club's rumoured partnership with the tourism company.

The second city outfit are currently working on agreeing a partnership with the company, but it has been met with discontent from some supporters due to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Rwanda.

Wyness has stressed his surprise that Sawiris hasn't used his contacts in Egypt to try to agree a sponsorship deal with one of their major businesses.

The Villans have recently released their home shirt for the 2026-27 campaign without a front-of-shirt sponsor, as the new ban on gambling companies continues to affect clubs.

It remains to be seen whether the proposed Visit Rwanda deal will end up being settled, but Wyness believes that the political ramifications of it must be put to one side.

Villa's former chief Wyness - who served as CEO at Villa Park between 2016 and 2018 and now runs a consultancy business advising elite clubs - believes that there is nothing wrong with his former club working with Visit Rwanda, provided that the money it brings is used correctly by the club.

The Champions League returnees already had a top sponsorship deal in place with Egyptian company El Gouna last season, and Wyness believes they should explore that market further.

Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, he made it clear that it could have presented them with a viable alternative to Visit Rwanda, who have previously sponsored Arsenal in recent years.

"Look, I'm always one to say keep politics out of football as far as possible, and when Arsenal took on the sponsorship, there weren't the problems that there are today in Rwanda, while Villa are aware of the issues going into it," Wyness said.

"What I am surprised about is that Sawiris hasn't used Egyptian sponsorship areas more, as they're not controversial.

"If there is a budget there and it's being spent in the right ways and it's not corrupt in some way, then I think I'm afraid it (Visit Rwanda) has to go ahead. That's my point of view.

"But as I say, I'm surprised that with the connections that Sawiris has, we're not seeing Egypt being utilised more with Villa, which would kill two birds with one stone.

"Sawiris is one of the richest men in Egypt, and you'd think he'd have the political connections to get something like this done. So that's the bit that baffles me a little bit."

Former Manchester City financial advisor Stefan Borson recently told Football Insider that Villa's deal with Visit Rwanda will earn them around £10million a year if it is confirmed.

The football finance expert explained that the agreement is likely to be for a sleeve sponsorship, rather than a more prominent feature on the shirt,

Borson made it clear that he would be "surprised" if the club want it as their main front-of-shirt sponsor, given the controversy that surrounds the company.

Instead, he made it clear that any deal is likely to carry a relatively low value for Villa in the context of a top Premier League club.