Manchester United have a new official partner. On the heels of the Premier League football club’s official formal footwear partner, and their official medical systems partner, Manchester United now have an official video games partner.

Video game giant EA Sports has signed a deal to become an official partner of Manchester United, but he deal is more than just a linking of names in the way that most of United’s partners waste their considerable financial resources.

The partnership between EA and Manchester United will make the most of digital platforms to bring content to tap into what is presumably a big overlap between fans of EA’s FIFA series and Manchester United. The football club will share the in-game footage of the upcoming FIFA 17 installment of the series across its digital media accounts, in what is becoming a theme with Manchester United’s sponsorship deals.

The recent partnership between United and 20th Century Fox saw the players take part in ads to promote films such as Deadpool and Independence Day which were then posted to Manchester United’s digital media accounts.

Whether or not you consider the ads to be cringeworthy as most of the internet did, you would surely have to characterise the initiative a success. Over 7,000 retweets sees to that; in the eyes of a sponsor, anyway.

Anything for the team you say, @WayneRooney? Good luck! #XMenApocalypse https://t.co/ym1XtMansq

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) May 20, 2016

And on the back of that, EA are looking for the same treatment it seems. Their official teaser trailer for the new game already features Manchester United heavily – though not exclusively.

Perhaps this is the new trend in sports teams partnering with businesses. We’ve already seen Nike use their sponsored athletes to great effect. Rather than posting themselves and getting their wards to retweet or endorse the product, they’ll just get the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo to post it themselves.

#Mercurial Superfly Portugal “Champions of Europe” by#NIKEiD. ????????????⚽???????????? pic.twitter.com/qVWXKBYn05

— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) July 15, 2016

It’s a similar service that Manchester United themselves seem to be offering. Rather than simply endorse the product, they’re getting involved.

Times always change very quickly in areas like marketing and advertising. The goalposts move as the public gets used to the strategies being employed by pretty much everyone: the market gets saturated. This new step keeps things fresh and keeps interest high in both the sponsor and the club.

Want to see what the new FIFA 17 looks like? Well, stay tuned to Manchester United’s Twitter account!