LIVERPOOL FC believe their new kit deal could help turn them into a £300million worldwide brand over the next six years.

It was confirmed yesterday that American sportswear firm Warrior have agreed to replace Adidas as the club’s shirt manufacturer until 2018, starting June 1 this summer.

Liverpool FC are guaranteed £25m per year under the terms of the deal, which is a record for a Premier League club.

But unlike the present agreement with Adidas, the Anfield outfit will have control over non-branded merchandising.

And Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre believes direct access to such a source of commercial revenue could double the eventual value of the deal with Warrior and propel the club among the real heavyweights in the world game.

“Our business is split in two,” said Ayre. “We have what you call kit, the branded products, the stuff the players wear and that’s the part of the business that the deal with Warrior covers.

“In our existing deal, there have been some restrictions on that in terms of the other unbranded products we sell, general retail.

“That sat within our deal with Adidas in certain lines and in certain markets. In our new deal, we have complete control of that.

“We will still work with Warrior, but we will have a much wider opportunity. That area of business currently represents 50% of everything we generate.

“The new deal represents half of what we currently generate, so we still have another opportunity to develop similar kind of revenues and that’s what encouraged us.”

Ayre added: “The way these deals are typically structured is that they are a mix of guaranteed revenues and royalties. It’s the same in near enough every kit deal I’ve seen.

“I’m happy that we delivered absolute value for a partner like Adidas and we will continue to deliver that value for Warrior.

“I don’t think it would surprise anyone to know that Liverpool are one of the biggest merchandising businesses in football.”