Manchester United have unveiled their new home kit for the 2020-21 season and confirmed a record-breaking £235m shirt sponsorship deal with German tech brand TeamViewer.
The new kit creates a ‘modern, classic’ look, according to manufacturers adidas, and contains nods to United jerseys from the 1980s, when the club and the sports design company first collaborated.
United also have a new sponsor for the first time since 2015 with their Chevrolet deal, which began in 2014, set to expire. Sportsmail revealed in March that the deal with TeamViewer will see the club pocket £47million-a-season for the next five years.
It is the largest sponsorship negotiated by a sports team during the pandemic across the world, despite football clubs continuing to struggle financially without matchday revenue from supporters.
It is believed to be similar to Barcelona’s reported (£47million) per season deal with Rakuten, making the TeamViewer agreement the biggest shirt-only deal in the Premier League.
The kit, meanwhile, has the words ‘youth, courage success’ printed on the back of the neck inside the shirt, while a red devil appears on the back for the first time in the club’s history.
United stars Paul Pogba, Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw were some of the United stars who modelled the new kit, which had been blasted by former Red Devils defender Gary Neville.
The former right-back and now-Sky Sports pundit claimed ‘the sponsor isn’t right’ and described leaked pictures of the kit as ‘basic’.
He tweeted last month: ‘I tend to love every United home kit but I don’t like this one at all! (If it is the home kit). Am I being harsh?
‘Sponsor isn’t right, arms aren’t right and just feels basic without tapping into heritage. Agree or not.’
Supporter opinion in response to Neville was mixed, however, with some liking the design and others agreeing with the former United defender.
‘This is miles better than any of those horrendous Chevrolet shirts,’ wrote one, while another said ‘completely disagree, keep it simple.’
Another wrote: ‘I’m not a United fan but I think the short looks great. Traditional and classy.’
Another comment was: ‘You are being a bit too harsh Gary. Without the logo sponsor it would probably be one of our best for ages.’
Others agreed with Neville’s reservations, however, with one saying: ‘Hate that sponsor logo looks awful.’
One fan said: ‘That sponsor is awful looks like a junior team.’
The Team Viewer logo has been switched from its traditional blue colour to white in order to fit with the United jersey.
Launched in 2005, TeamViewer describes itself as a company that ‘focuses on cloud-based technologies to enable online remote support and collaboration globally’. The software has been installed on 2.5billion devices worldwide, with up to 45million devices online at any given time.
The new kit comes as United are set to announce the signing of Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho for £73million.
The 21-year-old forward, who has been a long-term target for the Red Devils, had a medical at United’s training base on Tuesday and the deal is set to be confirmed imminently.
