Manchester United tie up £40m shirt sponsor deal... for their training kit!

Manchester United have signed a new £40million sponsorship deal…but just for their training kit.

Hot property: United's training kit, as worn by Anderson, has become valuable 

Logistics company DHL are happy to fork out £10m a year for four years to brand the training gear – roughly half the sum Aon invested to put their names on United's match shirts - even though European games, the only regular occasion on which the wider media are admitted to Carrington for training, are not included in the deal.

Indeed, at £10million-a-year, it is exceeded by only Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea, plus Manchester City's far more complicated tie-up with Etihad Airlines, for their matchday kit.

It adds further strength to United’s vast commercial arm, which is expected to post annual income in excess of £100million when the end-of-year results come out at some point over the next couple of months.

In addition, the club also announced a three-year partnership with Vietnam’s leading mobile telecommunications company, Beeline, to distribute United content in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

It is estimated United have 16million supporters in Vietnam alone and the club could now visit the country on a future tour.

Sir Alex Ferguson said: ‘Everyone knows about the passion of our fans in that part of the world and this deal makes it a lot easier for us to keep in touch with them.’