Puma’s bizarre badgeless kits are now leaving players baffled after Muhammed Gumuskaya is left confused trying to find and kiss the Fenerbahce club crest after scoring in Europa League tie
- Puma have unveiled badgeless kits for many teams in Europe this season
- Badges have been replaced by team names emblazoned across the chest
- But new design has caught players out trying traditional goal celebrations
- Muhammed Gumuskaya was left baffled trying to kiss the Fenerbahce club crest
- Midfielder was left quizzically searching for it during Europa League tie
Puma’s badgeless kits have already caused controversy among supporters but now they are leaving players confused too.
The kit manufacturer have unveiled away strip designs for many teams this season including Manchester City where instead of a club badge featuring on the front of the kit – as they have done for decades – they have replaced them with just the name of the team emblazoned across the chest.
Fans have already been angered over the new look kits, but it seems players have been suffering too as seen in Fenerbahce’s Europa League tie at home to HJK Helsinki on Thursday night.
Muhammed Gumuskaya attempts to find the Fenerbahce club crest after scoring a goal
But on his side’s new badgless kit the crest cannot be located after being replaced by a name
The Turkish side won the first leg of their play-off 1-0 thanks to a strike from Muhammed Gumuskaya, who wanted to celebrate his goal by kissing the team badge in front of supporters.
But as the 20-year-old midfielder tried to locate the crest on his shirt, he looked baffled at seeing just a name as he quizzically searched for an alternative location for the badge without success before being mobbed by overjoyed team-mates.
Manchester City were among the most high profile sides to have adopted the new style strips which Puma have deemed ‘progressive’.
The Turkish midfielder had attempted to kiss the Fenerbahce badge after scoring a goal
But he was left baffled by the controversial new shirt design as he searched for the logo
Fenerbahce players eventually huddled around the midfielder during their side’s 1-0 victory in the Europa League against HJK Helsinki
On City and many other kits, the badge does still feature on the kit but is interwoven into the fabric within the entire shirt, making it much less easier to spot from it’s traditional placing around a player’s heart or in the top central area of the strip.
Similar shirts were seen on away shirts at Euro 2020 from teams wearing Puma, including Switzerland and Italy, although the latter still featured a very small crest.
Revealing the concept for the first time, Puma explained that they aimed to ‘challenge convention, innovate, and bring fresh products to football’.
In a statement, they said the kit ‘creates a new expression of the club’s identity on the front of the jersey by reimagining the traditional football kit in a brand-new approach merging football and streetwear culture.’
Manchester City have officially unveiled their new ground-breaking third strip for this season
Tradtitonal shirts have seen the club crest usually located around the player’s heart
Puma’s new designs have dropped badges from the usual position and instead used club names placed across the front of the chest
Carl Tuffley, senior head of design manager Teamsport, said their objective was to go against the ‘traditional football jersey design’.
He added: ‘It is easy to play safe, but we want to change perceptions of a conventional football jersey.
‘The third [Manchester City] kit presented an opportunity to be bold, so we wanted to re-energise these jerseys and take a new direction.’
But City supporters were not happy, and took to social media in their droves to air their bemusement and disgust with Puma’s newest offering.
A number of them have even described the design as ‘the worst’ in the club’s history.
One fan wrote: ‘This is the worst kit I have ever had the displeasure of looking at. Genuinely staggering that Puma had a meeting about this and everyone was in favour of this design.’
A second disgruntled supporter echoed a similar tone.
They added: ‘I don’t want to come across like I’ve overreacting here or anything, but that is categorically the worst kit I’ve ever seen.’
Borussia Dortmund supporters were also angered by the concept and were left so incensed with the after one of their potential strips was leaked ahead of an unveiling that the club turned down Puma’s offering.