England and Manchester United footballer Wayne Rooney and his girlfriend Coleen McLoughlin have signed a £3.5m deal to be the new faces of Asda.
The two-and-a-half year contract follows reports earlier this week that Asda is dropping its long-running "Always low prices" slogan and boosting its marketing spend to £45m, equalling rival retail giant Tesco.
Asda's decision has been well-timed before the 2006 World Cup, which will see Rooney’s profile sky-rocket in the media and could aid the supermarket's attempts to hang on to the number two spot it is in danger of losing to Sainsbury’s.
The deal tops off a successful week for the striker, who is to earn £5m in a 12-year, five-book deal with publisher HarperCollins.
Rooney and McLoughlin are to kick off promotions with a "Summer of Sport" ad campaign.
The celebrity couple replace X-Factor presenter and rockstar Ozzy’s wife Sharon Osbourne, who was dropped as Asda’s spokewoman in September after less than a year.
