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Adidas make big Aston Villa decision after 25/26 kit claim
Aston Villa will reportedly become an 'elite' adidas team from next season, joining the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester United, Arsenal, Juventus and Bayern Munich.
Villa agreed a lucrative deal with global sportswear manufacturers adidas in the summer, after ending their contract prematurely with previous suppliers Castore following complaints from players in both the Men's and Women's teams about the quality of the material.
Villa's chairman and co-owner Nassef Sawiris owns around seven percent of adidas, and struck an agreement with Villa's president of business operations Chris Heck to take over from Castore in the summer, moving forwards.
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"Now all of a sudden we’re in 120 countries, in stores," said Heck, upon striking the deal. "Before, we had a very underwhelming local brand that couldn’t do anything. The revenue stream in that alone is through the roof. That’s a win for the fans and a win for the club. We have better gear, more stuff, we look cooler, our brand is cooler. Everything is better. That’s a good win for everybody."
There is more attention to detail and more on offer for supporters of clubs who follow adidas' 'elite' clubs - for example, followers of Arsenal, Real Madrid and the other Champions League sides have a greater choice of threads and improved technology used to create their strips. adidas, it has been reported, are to add to their elite group of clubs and FootyHeadlines claim Villa will be one of them.
FootyHeadlines previously reported that Celtic, Roma, Liverpool and Newcastle were also going to join the 'elite' group.
The specific benefits of becoming an 'elite' club start with the sale of two variations of kits and training wear. 'Authentic' clothing uses the brand's latest Heat.Dry technology and would be sold at a greater price, whilst replicas would likely match the price point of this season's kits.
There is also the benefit of having a greater production of sportswear, lifestyle clothing and Villa-branded equipment, but most interestingly the jump to 'elite' status should mean the club are allowed third kits branded with the famous trefoil logo, much like examples produced for the likes of Man United and Real Madrid this term.
