Earlier today we got confirmation of a long standing rumour that Arsenal were going to do a deal with Adidas to become kit manufacturer when our deal with Puma expired.

These days, there’s a lot more to it than simply making the home and away shirt. On top of the kit there’s training gear, leisure wear and all the various bits and pieces that can be found on the club’s online store.

The German company are set to pay Arsenal £65m per season over five years, bringing the total to over £300m. However, the Gunners hierarchy had initially considered continuing with Puma and an agreement had been reached which would have seen them also pay something in the region of £65m per season.

Perhaps cognisant that the Puma kits weren’t always the most popular, when Adidas came in late in 2017 to match what was already on offer, it was decided to go with them, at which point Puma asked that any announcement should wait until after the 2018-19 kits were launched.

Design work by Adidas began early in 2018 as it takes a surprisingly long time to get from start to finish on a new shirt concept, and Arseblog News understands that next season’s kits are almost at approval stage. Will it be the bruised banana? We’ll just have to wait and see.

The global Arsenal fanbase is a significant factor as a relatively small percentage of kits are sold in the UK, with over 85% of all sales made worldwide, and the popularity of the club in major overseas markets played a key part in the negotiations.

So, it’s an exciting new partnership, with those of us of a certain vintage hoping that we can replicate some of the success we had with Adidas in the past.