Puma is relatively new to making football jerseys as Nike and Adidas have enjoyed a monopoly in the trade. However, the German company are making some new inroads, and their sponsorship deal with Manchester City is their biggest one yet.
The company got a lot of praise for the jerseys they made for City last season. The designs were refreshing, and even rival fans had good things to say for them. The home jersey didn’t really make a wave this season, but Puma released one of the best away kits of all time.
via Imago
Manchester City’s away jersey.
However, Puma missed the mark with the third kit, as fans were not happy with the minimalistic design. A fan on Twitter compared the kit to a common-place T-shirt in any average superstore. Moreover, if the prices remain the same as their normal jersey prices, approximately £100, they would face even more problems.
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👕 | Man City have released their 21/22 third Jersey. This will more than likely be the blueprint for all Puma third kits across football…
What on Earth are they thinking?!?! Looking like one Tee from the 2 for £25 section in Sports Direct ☠️ pic.twitter.com/7pKTkRSMMZ
— Steeze Reports (@steezereports) August 18, 2021
Puma didn’t stop at City, however, and followed this blueprint for all of the clubs that they sponsor. Clubs like Marseille, AC Milan, Valencia, Fenerbahce and PSV Eindhoven all released similar jerseys. They all got similar reviews from the fans.
Marseille have just dropped their new third kit. And it’s just as shite as City’s.
PUMA doing these clubs dirty! pic.twitter.com/i6yI6VhXSd
— Football Tweet (@Football__Tweet) August 18, 2021
The name of the club plastered in the middle of the shirt wasn’t the only change that Puma made. The club’s badge has been placed on the back of the jersey beneath the collar. Some of the jerseys also feature a pattern of the club’s crest on the entire T-shirt. However, this wasn’t enough to change the fans’ minds.
PUMA have released their new third kits for some of the biggest teams in Europe… Very creative. 🧐 pic.twitter.com/T7qdb3KK0K
— Mystery Kits (@MysteryKits_) August 18, 2021
Fans react to the Puma third kits.
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The biggest talking point about the jerseys was that they look like no effort was put into making or designing them. Fans are also worried about the price, but the lack of creativity was a huge problem too.
Nike: we looked at the historical connection between the city and the grass snake to give Inter fans a kit to remember
Adidas: we took inspiration from the Bavarian Alps to give Bayern a bespoke third kit
Puma: we went on Microsoft Word and the different fonts were crazy man pic.twitter.com/mIxuvsoLPe
— Harvey Hodgson (@GMSFootball_) August 18, 2021
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Puma did miss the mark with this one, and it’s made worse by the success of their rivals. Adidas has got rave reviews for their kits for Manchester United, and Nike has done an amazing job with PSG kits. It’ll be interesting to see how Puma bounces back from this one.
