Sport and entertainment management company KIN Partners has continued to grow its portfolio by signing up Manchester City footballer İlkay Gündoğan, with his uncle, Ilhan Gündoğan also joining the firm.
The company will manage Gündoğan’s on- and off-field interests, including intellectual property development through commercial partnerships, marketing and communications and digital strategy.
As part of the agreement, the German player’s uncle and long-term business adviser, Ilhan Gündoğan joins the firm in a senior leadership position.
Onur Yegenoglu, head of sport at KIN Partners, said: “Ilhan is highly respected in the football industry and his strong connections in Germany and Central Europe, where he’ll be tasked with building on our core client base, will be a huge asset for KIN.”
The arrival of both Gündoğans represents another move aimed at growing the scope of KIN Partners.
In May 2020, Yegenoglu’s arrival from Creative Artists Agency (CAA) signalled the company’s ambition to develop into a full-service sports agency.
As well as talent representation, KIN Partners work with various sports rights-holders. It led sponsorship sales for David Beckham’s Inter Miami FC and also works with English Premier League side Chelsea on its player representation.
The Chelsea deal was struck in KIN Partners’ former guise as Doyen Global, which it was named when launched in 2013. Doyen Global was founded by 19 Entertainment’s former senior vice-president, Simon Oliveira, and CAA’s senior executive Matthew Kay.
KIN Partners recently appointed Danny Paiser as its senior vice-president, commercial. The role is a newly-created one for Paiser, who joined KIN from the IMG agency, where he has been serving as vice-president of strategic partnerships, football. His time at IMG was short-lived, having only taken up the position there at the end of 2019.
