Manchester United unveil new kit as Nike and Adidas battle for deal with EPL giants

MANCHESTER United unveiled their 2014-15 playing kit on Tuesday that might be the last one for Nike, with Adidas poised to take over.

MANCHESTER United unveiled their 2014-15 playing kit on Tuesday that might be the last one for Nike, with Adidas poised to take over as the English Premier League giant’s gear sponsor.

Nike has been supplying United’s kits since 2002 but its deal expires next year. A renewal is estimated to cost around $110m a year, and analysts say Nike are baulking at the figure.

“Clearly Nike’s football business is booming and they could easily afford to do this (deal). They had the right to match any other offer but looking at the deal on the table, they will walk away

as it doesn’t make commercial sense,’ a source told Reuters news agency.

United received around $70 million from the Nike deal in 2012-13, including its share of profit from the sale of merchandise around the world.

Nike recently lost the Arsenal deal to another German company, Puma.

United’s unveiling featured England striker Wayne Rooney as main man and teammates Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa.

The collarless shirt features white on the sleeves and a hint of black, and marks the first strip released during Louis van Gaal’s tenure.

The traditional white collar returns while the words ‘youth, courage and greatness’ are embossed in the neck of the shirt.

The team will wear it for the for the first time later this month when they take on LA Galaxy as part of a pre-season tour of America.

The home strip is the first to bear the Chevrolet logo.

Originally published as Manchester United unveil new kit as Nike and Adidas battle for deal with EPL giants