Barcelona poised to sign staggering €1.7bn Nike kit deal

• Barcelona’s long-term partnership with Nike had looked likely to end
• Two parties now look to have blockbuster agreement in place
• New deal worth €1.7bn over the course of the next 14 years

Barcelona are close to agreeing a new mega-money kit manufacturing deal with Nike worth €1.7bn over the next 14 years, reports in Spain have confirmed.

The Catalan giants have had their kits produced by Nike since 2000, marking one of the most successful commercial partnerships of all time.

But it looked as if their bond would be broken when Barcelona president Joan Laporta said in March that he’d be looking to terminate their agreement because of a “flagrant” breaches of contract.

“They had 45 days to compensate us, they did not do so and we informed them that the contract was being terminated, to which they responded with precautionary measures, to which we have responded and are now seeing the solution to these measures,” Laporta ranted.

“They have tried to improve the contract, but they have made efforts that are not enough because we know that the market pays more. The easy thing would be to continue with Nike with a contract below the market, but sometimes the easy thing is not the best for the club.”

Some six months on, there were fresh reports that Barcelona and Nike were ‘very close’ to performing a U-turn, in a deal that would have a significant positive impact on the club’s precarious finances.

Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo report, citing various sources, that a fresh agreement is indeed in place – one that will commit Barcelona and Nike to one another until 2038.

The deal is said to include a €158m signing-on bonus for Barcelona, to be paid over the course of the agreement. They will also earn an extra €127m annually, taking the overall value of the deal towards the €1.7bn mark.

Nike’s brand rival, PUMA, who are the kit manufacturer for Premier League champions Manchester City among others, are understood to have tabled a formal offer, but will now watch on as Barcelona’s partnership with the world’s most iconic sports brand stretches towards the 40-year mark.