It may not be the best period on the field for Manchester United, but their off field decisions continue to bring in the money for the Premier League club.
One of those decisions was to allow Adidas to become the team's kit suppliers on a huge ten-year contact. The German supplier paid a world record £750 million for the rights, and began to produce kits last summer.
The deal has begun in a year where Manchester United have struggled: the team were knocked out of the Champions League in the group stages, while Louis van Gaal's side currently lie in fifth place in the league, nine points behind leaders Arsenal.
It seems that's not sitting all too well with their new sponsors, as revealed in an interview with Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer, which was published on Monday by German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung. In it, he spoke about United's style of football under van Gaal.
"Business with Manchester United is going very well, we sell more shirts than expected. We are satisfied, even if the current playing style is not exactly what we want to see".
United have refused to comment on Hainer's comments after they were made public.
Are we near an era where sponsors feel they have the right to publicly admonish the teams they give money to?
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