Carlsberg, Liverpool in shirt sponsorship talks

COPENHAGEN, March 30 (Reuters) - Danish brewer Carlsberg (CARLb.CO) has started negotiations to extend its 18-year shirt sponsorship deal with Premier League club Liverpool and expects to finalise talks next year, its sponsorship head Keld Strudahl said on Monday.

"We are talking about how a new agreement of cooperation should look but there is nothing concrete on the table yet," Strudahl told Reuters.

According to British media reports, the current shirt deal, which expires at the end of the 2009/2010 season, is worth 10 million euros per year.

Experts say companies in cost-cutting mode may be reluctant to sign shirt sponsorships, though bigger clubs are in a better position to renew their lucrative deals. "It's too early to say if the new sponsorship will be at the same level or some other level or nothing at all," Strudahl said. "We are conducting a review of all our sponsorships and commercial and marketing activities in general," he said.

(Reporting by Teis Jensen, Editing by David Cowell)