1 week ago
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The top brass at Adidas have been chuffed to bits when it became apparent that Liverpool was on the brink of signing Florian Wirtz. The Reds finalized a record-breaking deal for the attacking midfielder last month, securing the 22-year-old's services after agreeing to a deal potentially worth $157 million (£116 million) with Bayer Leverkusen.
Wirtz's acquisition is a transfer triumph for the Premier League title holders, who managed to fend off competition from both Bayern Munich and Man City to secure his signature. He could feature in the club's first pre-season friendly against Preston on Sunday.
Even the player himself confessed he hadn't anticipated Liverpool being his next club until he had discussions with Arne Slot and Richard Hughes, finding himself won over by a compelling proposition.
As Germany's standout player, it's no surprise that Wirtz is already an Adidas athlete. He'll also be donning Adidas kits at club level for at least the next five years, following the announcement back in March that they would replace Nike as Liverpool's new kit sponsor.
So it was somewhat odd to see Wirtz presented in a Nike kit, brandishing a shirt he'll never sport in competitive play for the Reds.
While Adidas will undoubtedly be thrilled to see German football's brightest star at one of their newly acquired clubs, it must have been a bit of a letdown that their iconic three stripes weren't plastered all over his introduction.
Instead, he sported the swoosh of their fierce global competitors. Unfortunately, bureaucratic hurdles made the inclusion of Adidas branding unfeasible.
Liverpool's collaboration with Adidas is set to commence from August 1 2025, meaning the Reds will likely sport their previous season's Nike kits for most of the pre-season, including their profitable tour of Asia.
Traditionally, new kits have been unveiled before the club's final home match of the season. However, details of the new Adidas Liverpool kits - both home and away - will be disclosed via club and Adidas channels and will be available for purchase from August 1.
The postponed launch date is a ripple effect from the Coronavirus pandemic and the termination of Liverpool's prior kit agreement with New Balance in 2020.
With the 2019/20 Premier League season not wrapping up until 26 July, a temporary extension was agreed upon allowing New Balance to see out the season, including Liverpool's title-winning celebrations.
Now, five years later, Nike is reaping similar benefits as they maximise brand exposure and partnership right up to the end, following another Premier League title win by the Reds.
As a result, all of Liverpool's new signings to date have donned Nike training wear and kits for their medicals and unveilings.
The Reds' new signings are all still awaiting confirmation of their squad numbers. This could be partly due to waiting for outgoing transfers to see which numbers become available, but there may also be marketing considerations at play.
Liverpool and Adidas will aim to capitalise on their partnership - rumoured to be worth around £65m - when it officially commences.
And with Wirtz being the Reds' record-breaking new signing, anticipate the German to take centre stage both on and off the pitch.
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