LONDON (Reuters) - Adidas AG will pay a
record 750 million pounds ($1.3 billion)
to supply Manchester United with shirts
and kit, underlining the enduring pulling power of the former English soccer champions despite a dismal last season.

The 10-year agreement announced on
Monday is a world record for a soccer
club and more than double the previous biggest, a 31 million pounds-a-year deal the German sportswear company is reported to have with Spanish side Real Madrid.

Its total value is also just 40 million
pounds less than United's owners the
Glazer family paid for the club in 2005,
highlighting how it will help to
underwrite the rebuilding of the team
under new manager Louis van Gaal.

The Dutchman takes charge of the Old
Trafford club on Wednesday just days
after leading the Netherlands to third
place at the World Cup.

Nike, the world's largest sportswear
group, had sponsored United since 2002 but earlier this month pulled out of a bidding war with Adidas, meaning the 2014-15 season will be the U.S. firm's last as a partner of the 20-time English champions.

Adidas, which also has similar deals
with elite European clubs including
England's Chelsea, Germany's Bayern
Munich and Italy's AC Milan, takes over
the contract from 2015/16.

The deal with arguably the world's most popular team is a coup for the German firm, protecting its leading position in a soccer market in which Nike has made strong inroads over the last 20 years.

"This collaboration marks a milestone
for us when it comes to merchandising
potential. We expect total sales to reach 1.5 billion pounds during the duration of our partnership," Adidas chief executive Herbert Hainer said in a statement.

Its lucrative value also points to the
continued prominence of the United
brand despite a 2013/4 campaign - its
first without influential manager Alex
Ferguson who retired after 26 years in
May 2013 - that saw the club finish seventh in the league and miss out on a Champions League spot for the first time in 19 years.

The allure of the club's famous red
shirts, worn by millions around the
globe, had already helped persuade
General Motors to put its Chevrolet brand on the team's jerseys in a deal worth $559 million that will run until 2021.

That agreement - double the going rate for most major European teams - will see Chevrolet on the front of United
shirts from this season in Nike's
swansong campaign.

Van Gaal, who replaces David Moyes as
manager after the Scot parted company with the club less than 10 months into his tenure, will spend two days at United's training complex before flying to Los Angeles with the team on Friday.

Nike was also recently replaced by
United's league rivals Arsenal, who have signed a kit supplier deal with
Germany's Puma, the third-ranked
company in the market, worth a
reported 30 million pounds a year.

www.thestar.com.my/Sport/Football/2014/07/14/Manchester-United-agree-record-shirt-deal-with-Adidas/

www.starzarena.ml/forum/showtopic.php?id=568

I hope its the "original Adidas" they signed with and not the "fake Adidas" that produces terrible jersies for Naija and other African countries.

RoyalRoy: I hope its the "original Adidas" they signed with and not the "fake Adidas" that produces terrible jersies for Naija and other African countries.

3 stripes on point.yipee!

RoyalRoy: I hope its the "original Adidas" they signed with and not the "fake Adidas" that produces terrible jersies for Naija and other African countries.

Don't be in doubt that this is fake Adidas.
Manchester United have got more than it takes to do this partnership with Adidas.