SECURING a major sponsorship deal is always far harder than merely declaring a desire for one.

Even for a club like Liverpool, with its huge and global fanbase and (relative) success in high-profile competitions, announcing that you are looking for a sponsor is a million miles away from finding a company to sign a cheque with seven noughts on it.

Just as Rafael Benitez demands to be judged on performance, then the commercial team at Anfield should be judged by the same manner.

And the £80million, four-year deal with Standard Chartered is a sign that off-the-field the club is now operating at the level of the biggest teams in Europe.

It will be even more impressive if, as Tom Hicks has said, Carlsberg remain as a key commercial partner at Anfield. New sponsors are like silver, but renewed sponsors are like gold.

The magnitude of the deal – it nearly trebles the current deal with Carlsberg – means that it is equivalent to receiving the prize money from the Champions League twice. It will go a long way to ensuring that, despite the problems of the 50% tax rate and the weak exchange rate, Liverpool can continue to compete at the highest level in Europe.

Domestically it will help to increase the gap even further between Liverpool and its neighbours Everton, as well as the other clubs on the fringes of the top four like Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa. However there is still the small problem of Manchester City, who look like making the competition for the four Champions League places into a five-horse race. The commercial team have achieved their goal – now it is up to Benitez to make sure his team aren’t the ones who miss out because of the Middle Eastern millions at Eastlands.