Who?! Manchester United sign Premier League's BIGGEST shirt-only sponsorship deal with little-known German tech brand TeamViewer paying £235MILLION for a five-year contract to replace Chevrolet

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Manchester United have signed the biggest shirt sponsorship deal in Premier League history after agreeing a five-year deal with little-known tech firm TeamViewer starting from next season. 

The remote software company will replace car manufacturers Chevrolet, who have been the principal shirt sponsor since 2014, with the new contract worth around £47million across five seasons - meaning the total value of the deal comes to a massive £235m.

It is the largest sponsorship negotiated by a sports team during the pandemic across the world, despite football clubs continuing to struggle financially without matchday revenue from supporters. 

Manchester United have signed the biggest kit sponsorship deal in Premier League history, agreeing a five-year contract with tech firm TeamViewer

Car manufacturer Chevrolet have been the club's principle kit sponors since 2014

A mocked up version of United's kit, featuring Bruno Fernandes, shows how it could look with the TeamViewer logo

United's managing director Richard Arnold said: 'We are tremendously proud to be establishing this partnership with one of the most exciting and dynamic global software companies.

'The ability to connect and collaborate has never been more important to the world and our community of 1.1 billion fans and followers.

'We are looking forward to working with TeamViewer to bring to life our vision for a partnership built on smarter ways of connecting people and businesses.' 

It is believed to be similar to Barcelona's reported 55 million euros (£47million) per season deal with Rakuten, making the TeamViewer agreement the biggest shirt-only deal in the Premier League.

The deal with TeamViewer is the biggest sponsorship by a sports team during the pandemic

The club's managing director Richard Arnold (L) said United were excited to work with 'one of the most exciting and dynamic global software companies' 

TeamViewer have a blue logo, but that will be switched to white when etched onto United's red kit next season. 

The firm's chief executive Oliver Steil said: 'We are very excited about this partnership, as it will significantly expand our brand positioning and it will help us to market our comprehensive solutions portfolio to all customer segments globally.

'With Manchester United and TeamViewer, two global winning teams join forces: Together as Team United we can bring the fan experience in the legendary Theatre of Dreams to a new level.

'We are extremely proud Manchester United picked us as partner in their ongoing technology journey.'  

United signed their seven-year deal with Chevrolet in 2012, becoming active in 2014

A company statement read: 'The TeamViewer logo will be embedded into the fabric of the Club, emblazoned on their Shirt front. TeamViewer will not only stand at the side lines during iconic moments in the legendary “Theatre of Dreams”. We will be right there. On the field. With them. Connected.

'This partnership is based on a shared passion; connecting people around the world and bringing fans closer than ever before to the Club that they love.'

The club's decision to partner with a relatively unheard of company has left a handful of fans puzzled, with some questioning why United had ended a deal with a globally recognised brand such as Chevrolet.

'Never heard of TeamViewer and me thinks Chevy is a more known, global brand,' wrote one supporter. 

Another wrote 'Goodbye to Chevrolet. Idk (I don't know) what TeamViewer is but welcome to United.' 

But there was more optimism from another section of fans, with some praising Ed Woodward's commercial performance for the club. 

'Woodward deserves appreciation to get a tech company to sign the world's most expensive shirt deal! He's good at the commercial side, he is doing that very well!' 

Launched in 2005, TeamViewer describes itself as a company that 'focuses on cloud-based technologies to enable online remote support and collaboration globally'. The software has been installed on 2.5billion devices worldwide, with up to 45million devices online at any given time.

United announced its seven-year deal with Chevrolet - made by parent firm General Motors back in 2012, replacing energy firm Aon, with the kit contract becoming active from the 2014-15 season.