Sponsors to hold contracts of future if Anelka makes history

Several advertisers and sponsors have been in talks with player's agents and managers about a new set of contracts for the top stars of the world game if Nicolas Anelka or another player wins a freedom of contract case against a club.

Anelka is considering legal action to break his contract with Arsenal and sign for SS Lazio after Arsenal refused the latest offer from the Rome club of £18 million to sell the French star. Anelka wants to be seen as any other employee at world and wants the right to serve notice and resign from the Premiership club to work elsewhere.

Such a ruling for a player in Europe would damage the status of all clubs and end the concept of playing contracts.

The sponsors who increasingly dominate the lives of their stars and the clubs they play for are looking at ways to step in.

FC Barcelona have already admitted this summer that their transfer policy is now guided by commercial considerations and the wish to increase sponsorship revenue across the world.

Several clubs have been linked in the past year with transfer dealings that are aimed at commercial revenue boosts away from their traditional areas of support. The most successful of these has been Perugia's signing of Japanese midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata and the television deals they have signed across the Far East as a result. Nike are club sponsors for FC Barcelona and have already proposed the return of Brazilian star - and their number one football client - Ronaldo to the Spanish champions next summer.

The initial idea is for players to be signed by sponsors not clubs and then released to play for the club with which the company has sponsorship or commercial deals. Squads will be assembled in this fashion rather than a club signing a four year contract for example for a player to play with them. Players will move around much more than at present according to the demands of the sponsors. Clubs are starting to consider the alternatives they have to the contract and the threat of Anelka opting out of playing for two years to establish a legal precedent on a player's contract with a football club means that many scenarios are being looked at to rescue the interests of the club and their major financial allies like sponsors are keen to be involved.