Arsenal eye £24m shirt deal

Arsenal are expecting to secure a £24 million shirt sponsorship deal - the second-richest in the Premiership - when their current deal with Sega ends this season.

Arsenal are looking to tie up the three-year contract in the coming months and, at at £8m a year, the new sponsorship will be exceeded only by the annual £10m that Vodafone is believed to pay Manchester United.

Chelsea's deal with Emirates Airline is understood to be worth £5.5m a season.

Sega, which stopped production of the Dreamcast games console currently advertised on Arsenal shirts, is not expected to try to renew its contract and Nike, McDonald's, Bank of Scotland and Capital Radio are thought to be among the companies bidding to sponsor the club.

Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein said: "This will be seen as a one-off opportunity because, as JVC showed, someone who gets in now could be there for the long run."

Sega has been Arsenal's leading sponsor for the past three seasons, ending the club's 18-year arrangement with electronics group JVC.

Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger today stressed the importance of making sure that clubs in the lower divisions are given financial help. The Arsenal manager said: "There is enough money generated by football to share among the 92 clubs and it has to be shared out in the right way.

"It is vital the clubs in the lower divisions survive."

Wenger cited the case of goalkeeper Stuart Taylor, who spent time on loan at Bristol Rovers and Peterborough, and is now ably deputising for the injured David Seaman and Richard Wright.