Revealed: Blockbuster Leeds deal off pitch on hold after contract signed

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Published on:

28 Mar 2020, 11:26 am

Leeds United have put their new kit deal with adidas on hold even though a contract has been signed, Football Insider understands.

The Championship giants already have an agreement with the sportswear giants to replace Italian firm Kappa, whose five-year agreement expires at the end of the season.

A Leeds source has told Football Insider that the huge uncertainty over the completion date of the current campaign means the finalisation of the deal has been stalled.

There is a growing likelihood that the season will continue into the summer months, if it does resume, and probably into June and July.

The expectation was that adidas would take over from Kappa from 1 July, in readiness for what would normally have been the new season.

But that now seems unlikely, if not impossible, and that means the final elements of the adidas deal are up in the air.

The precise value of the deal will depend on whether Marcelo Bielsa's Championship-leading side win promotion to the Premier League.

But the uncertainties caused by the coronavirus outbreak and the suspension of the football season have had a knock-on effect over the club's marquee commercial deal.

Leeds have agreed term with adidas and that is likely to mean a huge uplift on the current deal with Kappa, which is worth around £2million a year and dependent upon shirt sales.

United became the first elite club to announce a wage deferral earlier this week due to no matches being played, with senior stars having their salaries capped at £6,000-a-week.

In other Leeds United news, it can now be REVEALED that Bielsa privately thinks of Zlatan Ibrahimovic swoop and the latest on sensational summer deal.

Leeds United