With the futures of Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers and star player Raheem Sterling up for debate after another trophyless season at Anfield, at least one deal has been confirmed, with shirt sponsors Standard Chartered confirming a new £30m-a-year deal until 2019.
Liverpool chief executive Ian Ayre declared himself delighted with the extension and said that the club's global appeal matched that of the bank. "We've always felt there was great synergy throughout the two organisations, particularly the reach of Standard Chartered Bank around Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and the great global support we have as a football club in those regions," he told the Liverpool Echo.
Despite uncertainty over Liverpool's Champions League prospects and the make-up of next year's squad, the new deal is worth 50 per cent more than the previous one, which was worth £20m a year.
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But the Daily Telegraph notes that it is still far less lucrative than those thrashed out by some of Liverpool's Premier League rivals. Manchester United have a £53m-a-year deal with Chevrolet despite not qualifying for the Champions League last season. Chelsea recently signed a £40m deal with Yokohama Tyres while the Daily Mirror reports that Manchester City have a new £80m-a-year deal in the works with Abu Dhabi national airline Etihad.
Shirt sponsorship contracts in the Premier League are expected to sky-rocket in value as a direct consequence of the recent unprecedented £5bn television rights deal struck by Premier League chief executives with BT Sport and Sky.
Standard Chartered replaced Carlsberg on Liverpool shirts in 2010, but relations between the bank and club have not always been harmonious. The bank intervened during the Luis Suarez race row and there were concerns about the future of the deal when US regulators branded the bank a "rogue institution" in 2012. However, the club insists that it is delighted with the new deal and has pointed to the fact that it has only ever had five shirt sponsors.
Liverpool's home kit for the 2015/16 season was also unveiled recently – it is the first to be designed and manufactured by New Balance and features a “chequerboard jacquard” styled on Anfield's famous Kop end.
