Nike has closed in on the “crown jewel” that is the England football shirt after Sports Direct dropped its objection to the US sportswear company’s £285m ($565m, €393m) acquisition of Umbro.

The contract to produce the England shirt has become a tarnished prize since the team’s exit from the Euro 2008 tournament and on Friday it also emerged Umbro had a warehouse full of stock that Sports Direct, the UK’s biggest sportswear retailer, was refusing to accept.