Manchester City chairman provides hint towards ‘creative’ future club kits | OneFootball

Khaldoon Al Mubarak – the Manchester City chairman – has praised the work produced by PUMA over the years in designing and producing kits for the club.

Officials at the Etihad Stadium signed a long-term kit deal with Germany’s Puma back in 2019, replacing their current agreement with Nike and some reports indicating a valuation worth up to £65 million-per-year for a decade.

The agreement also saw Puma begin its role in designing and producing kits for all of Manchester City’s sister clubs within the City Football Group, involving sides in Australia, Spain, Uruguay, the United States, China, and more.

The last few years of kit designs concerning Manchester City have brought about plenty of discussion, with some editions proving to be significantly more popular than others, such as the 2022/23 Colin Bell-inspired home shirt.

Others have now proven to be as big of a hit, with Puma often leaning towards ambitious and unique designs for the Premier League giants, one of which saw an alternate kit ditch the club’s badge entirely from the front of the shirt.

Speaking during the second part of his annual end-of-season interview with the club’s official media channels, Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has praised the work of PUMA and the creativity shown by them in producing unique kits over the seasons.

“I have to say PUMA have been phenomenal partners to the Club. We love the creativity,” Al Mubarak admitted, before speaking on the subject of the club’s first-ever fourth kit from the last campaign, produced in connection with Noel Gallagher and Oasis.

“I think that particular kit was superb, a huge hit. I think the fans love it,” he added. “Noel was really brilliant in terms of his role and the creation of this kit too.

“And I think you’ll see a lot more of that. The PUMA and City Football Group partnership, and particularly with Manchester City, is getting more and more creative.

“I knew this was going to be a hit, there’s no doubt. With the combination of Noel, Oasis, PUMA, Manchester City, I knew we were going to get it right.”

While the fourth kit appeared to split opinion among supporters on social media, data released by reporters revealed that it had recorded the highest day-one sales for a strip launched by the club ever.

Data also revealed that shirt sales of Manchester City’s 2024/25 fourth kit alone made up 71 per cent of the revenue on launch day, with the second most popular item being a navy bomber jacket worn by Pep Guardiola in promotional images and videos.

At present, there is currently no indication that Manchester City and Puma have any intention of releasing a fourth kit for the upcoming season, although two unique editions are in line to be launched solely for usage at the summer’s FIFA Club World Cup.