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It has rarely been this good at Liverpool right now. Certainly not for the best part of three decades, at least.

Jurgen Klopp's side - the six-time, reigning champions of Europe - currently sit at the summit of English football, eight points clear of a Manchester City outfit they ran so close last time out.

The Reds' playing squad is the envy of virtually every club in world football, with world-class talents such as Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Sadio Mane - to name just three - helping the Reds ensure their re-emergence as a football powerhouse is not a fleeting sensation for patrons of the Kop.

In Klopp, Liverpool have one of the most tactically astute and strategically flexible coaches in Europe.

The German just happens to be one of the game's most high-profile and marketable managers in sport, to boot.

When an elite playing staff is led by a brilliant manager, success invariably follows. Liverpool can attest to that with their Champions League triumph back in June.

"Back on our perch," said CEO Peter Moore recently. He certainly has a point. Off the pitch, the club is thriving, too.

On the back of the club's sixth European Cup and a record 97-point campaign domestically last term, the Reds were able to bank more than £250million.

A recent report from respected American publication Forbes, placed Liverpool's value at nearly $2.2billion (£1.77bn). A far cry from when owners Fenway Sports Group purchased a club on the brink of administration for £300m in October 2010.

Bubbling just below surface level, is a tense battle to secure association with a club that is seemingly en route to the top with a jet-pack on its back. In one corner, long-time kit manufacturers New Balance are aiming to extend their hugely profitable partnership with the 18-time champions of England.

(Image: Publicity Picture)

In the other corner, the looming spectre of Nike hangs over proceedings. Crunch-time is fast approaching.

Boston-based New Balance currently pay Liverpool £45m-a-year to produce football kits that have become wildly successful both creatively and commercially. Since succeeding their off-shoot company Warrior in 2015, the Americans have been the creators of the club's two biggest-selling strips in Anfield history.

They face strong competition from the behemoth that is Nike, however.

The American powerhouse are front and centre of the queue to be Liverpool's next kit manufacturers. Anfield sources have remained tight-lipped on what happens next, but a High Court date has been set.

Clearly, New Balance want to extend a relationship they see as the crown jewel in their portfolio. Liverpool FC are big business and they are not prepared to give them up without a fight that includes tooth and nail.

For Liverpool, they feel - perhaps with justification - that their current status as one of the game's biggest names should be reflected in their bottom line from kit manufacturers. The Reds, ideally, are looking for something closer to parity with the £75m Manchester United earn annually from Adidas.

"The club is very well run on and off the field and there is just a sense that there is something good happening," Tim Crow, a world-leading sports marketing advisor tells the ECHO. "When I look at the numbers around teams and fans, Manchester United and Liverpool have always been the top two.

"Liverpool had that great run in the 70s and 80s and that picked them up fans all over the world, actually.

"And then of course United came in and they were the biggest beneficiaries of the Premier League's global growth. It gave them a lead on everyone else, that they have maintained. Liverpool want parity in terms of the actual numbers on the field and clearly they want to monetize that, too.

"Whether that is possible, it is very hard now to discern the actual numbers because there are some joke numbers out there. I see some numbers claimed as fanbases on social media which you just cannot rely on because so much of it is bots and artificial accounts and everything else.

* Follow live updates from the High Court case over the Nike-New Balance dispute in our live blog HERE

"But Liverpool are best placed to close the gap on United, whether they can translate that to the gap off the field, financially is a different question. Certainly they are a strong No.2 and one thing is for certain, sustained success on the pitch generates fans for you, there is nothing like it."

New Balance's 'matching clause' in their contract, they feel, gives them the opportunity to put up the same terms as Nike to continue their association with the champions of Europe. A High Court date is scheduled for later this month to decide the outcome.

But if the Reds truly have their heart set on an agreement with Nike - the biggest sportswear brand on the planet - do New Balance stand even half a chance?

"My perspective is that at the end of the day, it is about the relationship," adds Crow, who has decades of experience in this particular field. "Quite clearly, Liverpool want away and clearly, New Balance want to stay. They have had a good run and New Balance have a lot more to lose here than anyone else.

"This is easily their flagship asset and they have had a good run. Their last two shirts have been the biggest sellers of the lot. At the end of the day, it is very hard to see a situation where they will carry on together. Quite clearly, Liverpool have decided that Nike is the preferred route, otherwise they wouldn't be going to court.

(Image: Nigel Roddis/Getty Images for Nike)

"So, I think even if it is found in favour of New Balance you might see a situation where Liverpool pay to get out [of that contract]. That depends on what is in the contract, but it is by no means unprecedented, that is what happened with Chelsea. It obviously does massively depend on what the detail on the contract is.

"If the court finds that New Balance have an automatic right to renew then obviously that makes it very difficult and then you would see a situation where if they are very much of the mind that Nike is for them, then I think you would see a situation where they would want to pay to get out of it."

A key aspect, it is thought, of Liverpool's willingness to embrace a new deal with Nike, is the Oregon-based company's ability to place a significant footprint down in the Chinese market.

Liverpool's global fanbase stretches across huge parts of South Asia, North America and Australia, but China is viewed as an unconquered area with limitless potential.

Nike's sales in China last year grew by as much as 27 per cent and that could be a instrumental in Liverpool's decision to side with them. It may be the ace-in-the-hole that will leave New Balance without an Anfield contract come next summer.

He adds: "The last earnings call, the earnings were so good they were better than the analysts' figures, and they have been working very very hard to break into that market more. Nike must be exceptionally attractive to Liverpool because that is a tough market to break into and you need a good partner.

"One thing people have jumped to is, it is my understanding, that Nike haven't promised to use stars like Drake and Serena Williams and LeBron James, they will say 'people like Drake, Serena and LeBron' because obviously they have got a lot of athletes in the stable. That includes some pretty phenomenal Chinese athletes.

"Nike is just a long way ahead, they are the very clear No.1 and Adidas are the No.2, but they are nowhere near as big and then you have, frankly, a lot of also-rans. So, New Balance, I mean they have good distribution but no-one can compete with Nike."

Outside of the Premier League's £5billion television rights, kit deals are the biggest annual earner for football clubs who aren't selling their top stars.

And in an era where Liverpool have genuine aspirations to challenge the biggest and best on the planet, the income from a huge partnership is a necessity.

"This is where it becomes all about the detail because a matching right may not be just about the money," Crow adds.

"It may be about distribution, it may be about marketing and it may be about all kinds of things, so the devil really is in the detail. The thing is, outside of TV deals, which are fundamentally about the Premier League and Champions League, the most valuable marketing asset that a top club has is this particular contract.

"It is not a conventional sponsorship contract. There's a lot of misunderstanding about these contracts, they are actually a licensing contract where all it is all about is giving the the partner a license to use the club's IP (intellectual property) and the kit is just one part of it actually.

"That is the significant subject of negotiating, in terms of how much the club's merchandise does the partner have the rights over?

"So when Manchester United kicked all of this off back in 2002 in the deal with Nike when (then chief executive) Peter Kenyon realised United were massively under-performing, I remember him saying to me he had a warehouse full of stuff no-one wants to buy and we're a football club who needs to outsource.

"He gave Nike all of the rights to their merchandise for a guarantee which was over £20m a year. I think one area of debate will be how much Liverpool want to give as part of this contract to whoever it is and how much they want to retain themselves and do things with in terms of beanie hats and whatever.

"You go into United's store now and it's very difficult to see where United stops and Adidas starts. So that will be another interesting aspect of negotiating as it always it."

Liverpool's use of their manager and his profile cannot be overstated. Klopp's match-day apparel is the perfect opportunity for the club to display the full range of their merchandise.

From caps to scarves and tracksuits, Klopp is pictured in full Liverpool FC regalia every time the Reds play a game. Those images are subsequently beamed around the world to millions of football supporters. Cash through the tills, essentially.

Last year, the Reds struck an agreement with insurers AXA to have the French company's logo emblazoned on Liverpool's official training kits. Part of the range included training tops, tracksuit bottoms, jackets, polo shirts and sleeveless hoodies.

Liverpool have three official club outlets across the city with a massive superstore tagged onto their Anfield stadium. They have come a long, long way from their shop being shut less than 24 hours after winning the 2005 Champions League.

The Reds are as business savvy as they have ever been under the direction of Chief Commercial Officer Billy Hogan, who took up his post in 2012.

"I think what will certainly be a big motivation and I think you could see this in respect of the club trying to trademark the word 'Liverpool' is that they want to turn it into a lifestyle brand," adds Crow.

"They clearly want to make it about more than the kit and training, they want to use it to turn Liverpool into a lifestyle brand in the same way that you see New York everywhere because Liverpool, as a city, has connotations that most others just don't have.

"That is no doubt a big discussion in their talks with Nike and whoever else. It will be a big factor in what the club are trying to do."

So, as Liverpool approach their big day in the High Court to decide the logo on their next kit, what is expected to transpire?

* Follow live updates from the High Court case over the Nike-New Balance dispute in our live blog on Friday morning HERE

"The court's decision is very simple. The New Balance matching right, is it something they can enforce? The court will either say New Balance have the right to match it and continue on automatically or they don't and really it is as simple as that."

It's over to the High Court. Nike or New Balance? We will find out soon enough.