ManU has agreed to a three-year global partnership with Yanmar, Japan’s leading engineering company. The company is one of the world’s leading engine manufacturing companies: It has a greater than 60% share in the world’s sail-boat engine market and produces more than half of all small-size diesel engines for construction machinery. As part of the company’s corporate social responsibility policy, it has long-established links with football, even going as far as establishing its own club in Japan, and has been active supporting talented young footballers in Asia (ManU). The London DAILY MAIL wrote that the agreement will allow the club to "utilise Yanmar's expertise in their key markets worldwide and enhance their profile in Japan." In '57 the company founded the football club now known as Cerezo Osaka, which is where Japanese ManU player Shinji Kagawa started his professional career. ManU Commercial Dir Richard Arnold said, "Like Manchester United, Yanmar is steeped in history, this year celebrating a centenary of creating ground-breaking state-of-the-art technology in its field." Present at the announcement of the partnership at Old Trafford were Kagawa and teammates Robin van Persie and Javier Hernandez (DAILY MAIL, 9/14).
