Manchester United have “all-but agreed” a new world record £60m-per-year kit deal with Adidas

The Daily Mail are reporting that Manchester United are close to agreeing a major deal with sports manufacturers Adidas worth a world record £60m-per-year.

Back in February reports were doing the rounds that Nike, who have made Man United’s kits since 2002, were preparing to renew their deal at Old Trafford for an eye-watering £70m-per-year.

The supposed renewal deal with Nike was set to earn United one billion pounds.

Several months on, however, Nike appear to have pulled back on their enthusiasm to spend so much in a deal with Old Trafford. The Daily Mail report that Nike are questioning “whether it is worth more than doubling their original £300m 10-year deal – which expires in June 2015 – when the deposed champions are going through this difficult period of transition.”

With Nike non-committal, Adidas are now ready to step into the mix.

The Daily Mail claim:

Senior insiders at the German sportswear giant believe a £60million-a-year deal has all but been agreed, even though current sponsors Nike retain the right to match any offer and extend a partnership that dates back to 2002 with United.

It is adidas who are now prepared to sign off the biggest football club kit deal in history in the belief that United’s global appeal remains undamaged by a disastrous domestic season that culminated in the dismissal of manager David Moyes.

A deal with adidas would still give United the freedom to create a separate fashion brand, with Japanese company Uniqlo thought to be close to completing their own deal.

By comparison, Arsenal recently agreed a £30m-per-year kit deal with Puma.

Real Madrid dismiss Chelsea's Modric enquiry

The Champions League finalists have made it clear they will not listen to offers for the Croatia international, a top summer transfer target for Blues boss Jose Mourinho

EXCLUSIVE
By Greg Stobart

Chelsea have been told they have no chance of signing Luka Modric after making enquiries about a move for the Real Madrid star, Goal can reveal.

Jose Mourinho believes that the 28-year-old would be the perfect fit for the Blues midfield and the Londoners have made discreet overtures towards the Croatia international.

Modric would be tempted by the prospect of returning to London in the future but sources close to the player insist he is happy at Madrid and feels he is in the form of his life.

He has played a key role in Los Blancos' run to the final of the Champions League, as well as their Copa del Rey success and Liga title challenge.

Madrid have therefore, made it clear that they will not entertain any offers for Modric this summer, with three years remaining on his contract at the end of the season.

Mourinho is a huge fan of Modric and brought the playmaker to Madrid in August 2012 when they paid Tottenham around €40 million to bring him to to the Santiago Bernabeu.

Chelsea have made third party enquiries for Modric in the last month using the same well-connected agent who tried to take the player from Tottenham to Stamford Bridge in 2011 in a €50m deal and was also involved in the deal to take him to Spain a year later.

“Modric would be Mourinho’s first choice to improve his midfield in the summer and Roman Abramovich is also a massive fan - but it’s been made very clear that this one is going nowhere,” a source told Goal.

Modric settled slowly in his first campaign, having missed pre-season, and there were even suggestions that Madrid would listen to offers for the former Dinamo Zagreb man last summer.

But he has become an integral part of the side this season, making 47 appearances so far in all competitions.

With Modric unavailable, Mourinho has turned his attentions to Tottenham midfielder Paulinho - a player the Portuguese regards as a long-term replacement for veteran Frank Lampard.

Despite failing to impress in his debut season in English football, Paulinho's athleticism, intelligence and eye for goal have impressed the Chelsea manager to the extent that he has identified the Brazilian as a key target this summer.

No approach has yet been made to Tottenham, but while it is thought Spurs chairman Daniel Levy would drive a hard bargain if he were to entertain a sale, the club could be tempted to cash in on the player they signed for €20.6m only last summer.

Much, though, will depend on who takes over the Tottenham manager's seat, with current boss Tim Sherwood expected to leave the role at the end of the season.

Luis Suarez should ditch Liverpool if Real Madrid come calling this summer

COMMENT: The Merseysiders' star man has been in sensational form this season but he should leave Anfield if he gets the chance to the Liga giants this summer

Luis Suarez faces Crystal Palace tonight needing two more goals in Liverpool’s remaining two fixtures to break the Premier League scoring record over a 38-game season.

It would be the perfect way for the Uruguayan to finish a sensational individual campaign before moving on to bigger and better things.

Suarez has been the outstanding player in the division this season with a stunning record of 30 goals in 31 league matches, a strike rate that propelled Liverpool up the table into an unlikely title race.

The Reds can still win their first championship in 24 years if Manchester City slip up - but whatever happens, Suarez should be seriously considering a summer move to Real Madrid.

Player Ranking — English Barclays Premier League

#	Player	GP	Team	Goals
1	Luis Suarez	32	Liverpool	31
2	Daniel Sturridge	28	Liverpool	21
3	Yaya Touré	33	Manchester City	19

The noises are already growing in football circles that the elusive attacker is this year’s chosen Galactico of Madrid president Florentino Perez after the Spanish side spent a world record €100 million on Gareth Bale last summer.

Bale joined Madrid as the best player in England having won the PFA and FWA player of the year awards. Suarez will find himself in the same situation this summer.

The 27-year-old will find he has plenty of reasons to stay at Liverpool. He signed a four-and-half-year contract in December worth €240,000 a week as a reward for his outstanding form; he has improved dramatically under the guidance of Brendan Rodgers; Liverpool are one of the most famous clubs on the planet and will be back where they belong in the Champions League next season.

But they are not Real Madrid. 

Suarez claims he is "very happy" and "nothing is going to happen" in the summer, but the chance to move to the Spanish capital is one that few players are able to turn down.

Cristiano Ronaldo pushed through the move in 2009, Bale did the same in 2013. It was an opportunity, they were warned, that might not come again.

One win away from that holy grail of a 10th European title, Madrid have built a team in no small part based on targeting the best Premier League talent. Ronaldo, Bale, Luka Modric and Xabi Alonso all arrived from England.

If Suarez wants to truly be considered one of the very best on the planet, perhaps even one of the greatest of all time, he must follow the same path. He has conquered the Premier League, now it is time for a new challenge.

At Real Madrid, alongside Bale and Ronaldo, he could have a genuine chance of one day winning the Ballon d'Or. 

Player Stats — Luis Suarez

• General
• Attack
• Defence
• Distribution
• Discipline

• General

  Games Played

  32

  Minutes Played

  2,874

  Starts

  32

  Interceptions

  11

  Substitution On

  0

  Substitution Off

  3

  Duels Won

  40.2%

  40.2%

  Aerial duels won

  29.7%

  29.7%

He will be able to play in a Spanish-speaking environment and escape from the English media, who he has often sought to blame for his own significant transgressions, not least the Patrice Evra racism incident and his decision to try and bite a chunk out of Branislav Ivanovic.

Liverpool have been wonderful to watch this season, but in reality this has been their chance to win the league. It will only get harder next season as rivals improve and Rodgers attempts to balance domestic goals with winning in Europe.

Last year, when Arsenal tried to sign Suarez for €50m, Liverpool admirably held firm. When Suarez tried to force the transfer and gave newspaper interviews stating his desire to leave, they told him to shut up.

But if Suarez was willing to kick up such a fuss to move to Arsenal, how far will he be willing to go to sign for Real Madrid?

For Liverpool’s owners, FSG, a bid worth more than €73m from a foreign club - not a direct rival -would be hard to resist. Indeed, it would be 'moneyball' in action. They found a player undervalued by the market at around €28m and they are now looking at making the best part of a €50m profit.

Suarez is an exceptional talent and one of the best the Premier League has ever seen - right up there with the likes of Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo.

His record this season, statistically at least, shows he is not far off the Portuguese superstar and Lionel Messi.

He deserves the chance to play alongside Ronaldo next season and establish himself as a true great of the game.

Rummenigge refuses to rule out Muller exit

The Bavarians are ready to sit down with the versatile attacking midfielder to discuss his future amid links with Manchester United

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has suggested that the Bundesliga champions would consider selling Thomas Muller this summer if the Germany international were to demand a transfer.

The versatile attacker is no longer an undisputed starter under Pep Guardiola and is believed to be unhappy with his lack of regular game time at the Allianz Arena.

Manchester United are supposedly closely monitoring the 24-year-old's situation in Bavaria and Rummenigge is ready to sit down with Muller to discuss the player's future.

"If a player does not feel well at Bayern Munich, he should come to my office," the FCB chief was quoted as saying by Bild.

"We will have to talk about things like that."

Muller has a contract with Bayern until the summer of 2017. He has netted 13 goals in 30 Bundesliga appearances this term.

Mourinho hints at new deals for Terry, Lampard & Ashley Cole

The Blues boss says he "thinks" all three players will still be at Stamford Bridge next season, but admitted he expects a flurry of transfer activity during the summer

Jose Mourinho has hinted that John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole will all sign new contracts withChelsea.

All three have just matter of weeks left to run on their current deals, with the left-back visibly emotional following the Blues final game of the season at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Terry recently underlined his desire to end his career with Chelsea, and Mourinho says he feels the trio's association with the club will not end this season.

"Again, they are with the club on their future," he told reporters. "I think they will play [for Chelsea] again. I think so."

Mourinho's men saw their Premier League title challenge all but ended by Sunday's goalless draw against Norwich City in a tame display that came shortly after their Champions League exit to Atletico Madrid.

It means Mourinho will end his first season back at Stamford Bridge without a trophy and the Portuguese expects a busy summer of comings and goings for the club in the transfer window.

"Now it's time to wait a little. The summer is a long summer for us," he said.

"For you, the media, with the World Cup, it's a different story. For the players involved in the World Cup it's a different story.

"But for us, as a club, it's a long time to be calm and to sit and to discuss and to analyse options and the market and possibilities. It's a long summer for us."

No bids for Costa, say Atletico

The striker has been the subject of persistent speculation but his current employers remain insistent that no bids have been forthcoming

Atletico Madrid have recieved no offers for talismanic striker Diego Costa, according to club president Enrique Cerezo.

Costa has been in prolific form for Diego Simeone's men this season, firing the side to the top of La Liga as well as a Champions League final date with city rivals Real Madrid.

The Spain frontman's impressive performances and 36-goal tally have led to widespread speculation linking him with a move away from Vicente Calderon, but Cerezo denied that any formal approaches have been made.

"It's not the time to talk about signings," he told the Spanish media. "There are three very important games ahead.

"Diego Costa was signed when he was 18, almost a child, and nobody guessed what he would be today.

"Chelsea? We don't want to know when these games are so important. We don't want to destabilise the team and we can talk about this later.

"I can say that there is nothing, not officially, from another club to one of our players. They're not on their way to another team.

"If the question is 'is there a deal for Costa' then we haven't heard anything.

Ibrahimovic: Why sign Messi or Ronaldo when you have Zlatan

The Swede responded cheekily when asked if PSG should make a stellar signing, while he will not define his career by success or failure in the Champions League

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has suggested that Paris Saint-Germain do not need to sign another superstar while he is at the club.

The Ligue 1 outfit have been linked with audacious moves for Barcelona’s Lionel Messi or Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, the current Ballon d’Or holder, but the Swede responded cheekily when asked if his club should move for either.

“Why sign Messi or Ronaldo when you have Zlatan?” he responded on RMC’s ‘Luis Attaque’ show.

Ibrahimovic also believes that his side should have been strong enough to see off the challenge of Chelsea in the Champions League having earned a 3-1 advantage in the first leg of the quarter-final before slipping out on the away goals rule.

Asked if he had been able to play that match instead of watching on from the stands due to injury, would PSG have progressed, he joked: “For my ego, I will say yes. But from that tie, we should be able to enjoy the result of the first leg. That was a really good result. Even if the return leg was different and more complicated, we should have been able to hold on.”

The loss to Chelsea means that Ibrahimovic has still not won the Champions League, and while he does not consider the competition as something that might define his career, the 32-year-old is still hopeful that he will one day claim Europe’s greatest club prize.

“If I stopped playing football tomorrow, I would not say: ‘I did not win the Champions League so my career is a failure.’ On the contrary, my career has been fantastic. I enjoyed it and I continue to enjoy it.

“My favourite player was Ronaldo, ‘El Fenomeno’, the Brazilian. He did not win the Champions League either. That is why I am more relaxed.

“The team is improving. We cannot forget that it is only two years since the project began [at PSG]. Chelsea started 10 years ago. They were successful and won the Champions League after several attempts. We have already had some success. We’ve done better than last year.