Thursday 05 February 2015 4:50 am

Liverpool’s £25m-a-year kit deal to be taken over by New Balance

New Balance will take over as Liverpool's official kit manufacturer from next season, continuing the six-year deal the Premier League club struck with its subsidiary Warrior Sports in 2012.

The terms of the deal, thought to be worth £25m-a-year to Liverpool, won't change when "NB" logo replaces the "W" on the famous red shirt.

Boston-based New Balance bought Warrior Sports in 2004 and has now decided to follow it into the football market for the first time. A football brand could help the sports manufacturer make further inroads into the Asian market where it has a heavy presence of stores.

New Balance launched its new football brand in London last night, revealing a cast of big-name players including Samir Nasri, Marouane Fellaini and Aaron Ramsey signed up to its sponsorship deals.

Stoke City, FC Porto and Sevilla have also been snapped up by the manufacturer and will sport its kits from next season. New Balance hopes to release its new range of football apparel this July.

Eagle-eyed fans have already taken note of Ramsey sporting New Balance boots on international duty.

Liverpool's chief commercial officer Billy Hogan commented:

We are thrilled to announce this partnership with one of the world's leading sportswear brands, which is a record-breaking deal for the club.

Like Liverpool FC, New Balance has more than 100 years of heritage and a global footprint.

Not only are they well known for their technical innovation across a range of sports but they also have a presence in many countries across the world, which will all feature LFC kit. We are very excited about joining forces with them.

When Liverpool agreed the deal with Warrior Sports in 2012 it became the most lucrative in Premier League history. Since then, however, it has been dwarfed by Arsenal's £30m-a-year deal with Puma and Manchester United's mammoth £75m-a-year deal with Adidas.

New Balance enjoyed record sales of $3.3bn (£2.16bn) last year, with international sales up 25 per cent. In the football market it faces intense competition from the dominance of Adidas and Nike whose football arms recorded revenues of $2.3bn and $2.7bn last season.

New Balance is also the official footwear and apparel sponsor of Red Sox, the baseball team that shares owner John W. Henry with Liverpool.