I would assume with the amount of money Lerner has he can buy his way out of anything.
Yes, probably, but is it legal? It sure must be, mustn't it?
In theory, yes the contract can be bought out. Equally that of Hummel can be bought out, as happened at Chelsea where adidas (boo, hiss) paid a lump sum to Umbro to get the kit deal.
That said, there is more to it than money. If Lerner comes in now and does that, who would be happy with their replica shirt which was already out of date? Team shirts would still have 32Red on them even though the deal was terminated- until Hummel could make some more. Villa would have to pay out a huge amount to Hummel for lost earnings, and to buy the old stock. They'd also have to pay a lot of money to 32Red. In the short term it'd be nonsense.
There's till time for next season, though :wink: