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(Photo: schalke04.de)

Schalke 04 have signed a world-first sponsorship deal with AllyouneedFresh that will allow supporters to pay for matchday services using their replica shirts starting next season.

AllyouneedFresh, a German online supermarket, have signed a four-year deal worth €20 million to put their logo on the club’s shirt sleeves. The logo will contain an integrated contactless payment chip so that all fans can pay with their shirts for beer, food and club merchandise in the Veltins Arena.

“We are delighted to have signed a long-term partnership deal with AllyouneedFresh and are proud to be able to present a world-first integrated chip payment function,” Schalke’s head of marketing Alexander Jobst told the club’s website. “This further underlines our positions as a leading innovator within the Bundesliga.”

It is reported that, as well as being able to pay for services inside the stadium, Schalke fans will also receive exclusive offer codes when using the online retailer, which currently has over 5 million customers.

“Schalke 04 is an optimal partner for us,” AllyouneedFresh founder and chief executive Jens Drubel added. “It is ‘the’ family club and it is known worldwide, with a fantastic fanbase and a very respected status everywhere. With their innovative nature, it provides a brilliant opportunity to redefine online food shopping.”

The players’ official shirts will not have the payment chip in the sleeve though, as Schalke’s head of communications Anja Kleine-Wilde joked that the players “rarely go to kiosks at half time to quickly get a curry-sausage or a beer.”