Adidas Deny Record Shirt Deal With Real Madrid

A report in Spanish daily Marca says Real have agreed a contract with the German company worth £104m a year for 10 years, beating the previous record deal of £75m, over 11 years, which Manchester United struck with Adidas in 2014 but Adidas have dismissed the reports saying it is pure speculation.

The front page of Marca on Friday showed a Real shirt with the headline “The most expensive shirt in the world”. The deal if subsequently confirmed would also cement Real's position at the top of football's rich list. A UEFA report in October last year put the Spanish giants at the top of the table, ahead of Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Barcelona.

Adidas took over the shirt sponsorship of Manchester United from Nike, who ended their relationship in July 2014, claiming the Premier League side was demanding too much money. In early January, Adidas chief executive Herbert Hainer said Manchester United's playing style is not exactly what we want to see but stressed their worldwide appeal more than made up for some disappointing results on the pitch. Asked if the Marca report was correct, a spokesman for Adidas said “Unfortunately, as this is pure speculation at this point, we would not be able to make any official comment at this stage”.