MANCHESTER: Global sports apparel giant Puma has been named the official kit supplier for the next ten years of all men’s, women’s and youth teams under the Abu-Dhabi based City Football Group, which include Premier League champions Manchester City, A-League’s Melbourne City FC, La Liga’s Girona FC, Uruguay’s Club Atlético Torque and China’s Sichuan Jiuniu FC.
The development comes days after the Group confirmed the acquisition of the Chinese club Sichuan.
Although financial details were not revealed, multiple reports in the UK media put the total deal value over ten years at £650 million ($863.8 million), a significant hike on the preceding agreement City had with Nike, that paid them £72 million ($95.7 million) for six years (2013-2018).
The new agreement City Football Group has agreed with Puma – covering the Premier League champions and four of its sister clubs – is the second biggest kit deal in Premier League history – only behind neighbours Manchester United.
Puma and Manchester City are already linked via several player partnerships, including Caroline Weir, Pauline Bremer and Nikita Parris in the women’s team in addition to men’s club captain Vincent Kompany, midfielder David Silva and striker Sergio Agüero.
“Puma’s partnership with City Football Group is the largest deal that we have ever done – both in scope and ambition,” Puma CEO Bjørn Gulden said.
“We are very excited to partner with City Football Group, whose success, ambition and drive for innovation has seen them setting new standards, on and off the field. We look forward to building the most innovative partnership in football by redefining the sports partnership model both on and off the pitch. We want to maximise on-field performance as well as football culture, in areas such as music, gaming and fashion to connect and inspire the fanbase of each team.”
“This announcement marks the start of an exciting new chapter for City Football Group,” City Football Group CEO Ferran Soriano added.
“Our relationship with Puma, covering five City Football Group clubs across four continents, will reset the model for sports partnerships on a truly global scale whilst being locally relevant and authentic for fans around the world. Puma share our vision for challenging expectations, and we are looking forward to what we believe will be a ground-breaking partnership.”
