City ditch Nike for £650m Puma deal

MANCHESTER City have signed a £650million kit deal with Puma, one of the biggest commercial contracts in football history. The partnership with Puma — first revealed by Sportsmail in November 2017 — covers City and four of their sister clubs. It is understood that City Football Group will net £65m a season over the 10-year contract. The agreement is the second largest in Premier League history, behind only Manchester United’s £750m, 10-year adidas deal. The recently purchased club Sichuan Jiuniu in China will boast a new strip along with Girona, Melbourne City and Uruguay’s Atletico Torque. The figures represent a huge hike on City’s current kit contract, which stands at £20m a year with Nike. Initial discussions with Puma centred on producing kits solely for City before other clubs under their umbrella were later brought to the table. The new strip is set for release in July, ahead of a friendly between Pep Guardiola’s side and sister club Yokohama F Marinos as part of City’s pre-season preparations in Asia. City chief executive Ferran Soriano revealed Guardiola (below) has had an input into the design of the Puma range. ‘Pep and the coaches are interested in the technical aspects of the shirt and the training gear,’ said Soriano. ‘Their demands are very high in terms of weight and managing the heat and sweat. It is an unprecedented partnership. We needed a partner that can go fast with us. Having just one partner saves times in discussions and it allows us to do things globally.’ Puma plan to sign a number of Guardiola’s squad — including Leroy Sane and Kevin De Bruyne — as Puma ambassadors. Vincent Kompany, Sergio Aguero and David Silva are already in that role.