Earlier this week it was confirmed that Adidas would become the club’s new kit partner from the start of the 2019-20 season, in a deal that’s said to be worth £65m per season to the Gunners.
Currently, it’s the third most expensive kit deal ever and earlier today Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted spoke to CNBC at the New York Stock Exchange about linking up with Arsenal again after so many years.
During the interview Rorsted takes a little dig at the brand of the London club claiming their football brand has underperformed and they play in a wrong kit.
“So the Premier League is the most commercial league in the world,” he said. “We have Manchester United which is commercially the biggest club, and we really wanted a club in London.
“Arsenal was a three stripes club until 1994, when it came up for us it was a no-brainer to take that, and from 2019 they’ll be playing in the three stripes again.”
Asked if the myriad changes at the club over the last while gave them pause for thought, he played that down and said he believed Arsenal were not making the most of the their vast worldwide appeal.
“Wen we look upon the Arsenal brand, it’s a stellar global brand that’s been under-performing in the last couple of years,” he continued.
“We believe that long-term there is so much upside in Arsenal. Football is by far the single biggest sport in the world. We sold 8 million jerseys in two weeks at the World Cup.
“It’s less about that change, but we’re just convinced it had to change, last season was probably their worst season they had.
“If you look upon how they’re playing right now, 5-1 at Craven Cottage against Fulham, playing some of the best football, some of the best goals were made … Ramsey when he made the goal with the heel. “It’s just stellar football. They had a good weekend, but in the wrong kit!”
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