Man United well placed to blow Man City away and agree ‘£30m’ deal
Man United may be able to sign the biggest shirt sleeve sponsorship deal in the Premier League worth £30million when there existing agreement with DXC Technology expires at the end of the season.
That is according to football finance expert Dr Dan Plumley who exclusively told Football Insider that Man United will be pushing to increase their revenue from a shirt sleeve sponsor.
Man United currently have a £20m deal with DXC Technology which has run since 2022, and the club have since been bought by Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Middle East investors have shown interest in Man United recently, but Ratcliffe has been making changes at the club and wants to build a new increased capacity stadium to increase revenue.
Man United already have top shirt sleeve deal
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Plumley reveals that Man United already have the best shirt sleeve deal in the Premier League, and reaching £30m could be a tough ask.
“They will be wanting an increase whether or not they get it and you can base that on the numbers that we know, and and they are reported, as you say if that’s the right fit,” Plumley said.
“This is the best guess scenario but that deal for Manchester United is the joint highest in the Premier League if the report figures are correct.
“Manchester City is the other one at £20m. The next couple on the list for Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal are around 10 to £12m reportedly. The bar in the Premier League, United are at the top of that anyway.
“You’d be looking for at least the same again, If not a little bit more, but, of course, they haven’t had the supporting success to leverage, they look like they are picking up a little bit now.
“That will be into the conversations, but they are still a huge commercial draw for sponsors. People still want to be associated with them.
“It’s a big deal in terms of the the biggest shirts sleeve deal in in world football is Real Madrid, and that’s rumored to be worth €70m per season. And now that’s huge.
“There are some clubs don’t even have shirt sponsor deals that are that high. So if those figures are correct, you’ve got some way to go to break that ceiling, but in the Premier League, it’s one of the best deals of the minute.
“So I think they’ll be looking for at least the same again. There is an argument that you could push for £30m, you know, look to grow it incremental and still be, you know, under the biggest deal in the world, but that goes back to the on pitch success and everything else around it.
“I’m sure they’ll be looking to grow it, but £20m is a good number at the minute in the context of that league. If they can get that again, I think that’ll be a decent deal.”
Europe could define sponsor deal
Sources though have told Football Insider that Man United may struggle to agree a deal worth £20m should they not qualify for European football this season.
Plumley also agrees that European football could be a key indicator to the price of any deal.
“What we haven’t talked about there, which we don’t always see the detail, but we know what happens is there might be add-ons and bonuses linked to these things,” Plumley said.
“So that would be factored in [qualifying for Europe]. It could be a flat deal with bonus incentives.
“If you do qualify for Europe, then it becomes a £20m flat fee plus performance related bonuses. Getting into Europe would be a big boost to that.”