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9 months ago
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The next couple of months could call curtains to a 27-year-long era at Barcelona as they look to replace Nike as their main shirt manufacturer.
There have been reports of the two parties being at crossroads, with the Catalans leaning towards Puma as their next manufacturer, or even perhaps making their own shirts to they can retain all profits.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta had also confirmed these in the last few weeks, but has dropped an absolute bombshell today, almost confirming the termination of their contract with Nike due rather alarming reasons, as well.
End of an era for Barcelona?
“We told Nike that, based on violations to our agreement, we have decided to terminate the contract. We informed them, and they have taken the matter to court. We are looking at solutions for this measure,” Laporta explained, via SPORT.
While he did not elaborate further on what violations had been breached, Laporta did confirm that since then, Nike have improved their offer.
“Nike have improved their offer, but it is still way below what the market can pay to us. Barcelona is the club that sells the most jerseys in the world, and we should have the best contract in the market. It is our responsibility as board members to guarantee that.”
Barcelona no short of options
Puma have reportedly already sent their offer to Barcelona, worth €120 million per year, with a signing bonus of €100 million. This is nearly a 50% jump from what Nike tables to the club with their €85 million-plus-bonuses deal.
Should Barcelona go with Puma, this would make it the biggest kit manufacturer deal in history, leaping over Real Madrid’s €110 million per year contract with Adidas.
Speaking of which, Adidas have also reportedly shown an interest in becoming Barcelona’s manufacturers despite already having Madrid under their belt.
With so many names in the picture, and a potentially record-breaking contract on the radar, Joan Laporta confirmed that Barcelona have not set any deadline for the negotiations, yet.
