US sportswear giant Nike has ended talks over extending its kit supplier agreement with English Premier League football team Manchester United, according to the Bloomberg and Reuters news agencies.
The reports suggest a £60m (€74.9m/$102.6m) per-season figure sought by the 20-time English champion is unacceptable to Nike.
This figure is consistent with reports last week, which stated Nike, Adidas and Warrior were in the running for a 10-year agreement with United worth £600m.
United’s current 13-year deal with Nike expires in July 2015 and is worth £23.3m per season, plus a share of profits from merchandise sales. Were United to attain a £60m annual partnership it would be considerably higher than the £31m per year paid by Adidas to provide Spanish Liga club Real Madrid’s kit.
Nike’s current contract gives it the right to match any offer made to United by a rival firm.