Mbappé’s signing with ON: could changing kit suppliers be disruptive to the game?
Regardless of the contract amount, switching shoe brands isn’t always easy for players concerned about their personal comfort. But there’s always a way out for it…
The last time Kylian Mbappé changed his kit sponsors, he did so without any hesitation. Without even trying on the shoes. In the year 2006, he was seven years old then, and with Zinédine Zidane, one of his idols, retiring, he traded his Adidas for Nikes someone like Ronaldinho. This year, he has undoubtedly taken every precaution. And perhaps even discussed this particular matter with the Real Madrid dressing room…
All players say that their boots are their number one tool of the trade around the world, and if they’re not comfortable in them, which means if it doesn’t work,” emphasizes Thomas Prouteau, a cleat specialist for the media outlet Footpack . “Ibrahima Konaté is a prime example. He signed with Under Armour in August 2025, and he’s only had to wear their model four times in matches. In fact, he played with Liverpool in Nike player Phantom boots, covering the logo. And for the past few days with the Real Madrid, he’s been playing with the Nike logo clearly visible, and not even the latest model of it, but the older version of it. After more than a year on his contract, it’s clear he’s not comfortable. It’s really a question of comfort.”
If they had been internationals thirty years ago, Mbappé and Konaté would sometimes have felt and restricted in their footwear. The collective contract between the Federation and Adidas ran until 2002, so they didn’t have the freedom to choose their shoes for now, while others were starting to sign individual contracts with competitors (Deschamps with Puma, Djorkaeff with Lotto, Blanc, Lizarazu, Thuram, Dugarry or Vieira with Nike and so on…).
In April 1997, eight of the eleven players in the France-Sweden match went on strike by decorating their foot boots. “Switching brands is clearly complicated and can be disruptive,” asserts the former player sponsorship manager at a sportswear company. ” Generally, we wait for the ‘go-ahead’ order before on the boots before discussing contracts with them. If they change sponsors, it’s either because they’re no longer a priority, or it’s a matter of relationships with them, but not because they’re no longer comfortable in their boots.” In the year 2018, however, Morgan Sanson discussed on Footpack his switch from Nike to Puma, whose model had “a very flexible heel and good foot support,” and which had put an end to his recurring heel pain.
The former sponsorship manager continued: “Depending on the player’s importance to the new brand, they are able to make customization efforts. With sizes aren’t necessarily the same from one brand to another. I’ve even made shoes in sizes 40.75 or 41.5. We can modify a heel or adapt a sole to fit the same studs as the Mercurial (Nike) company, the Predator (Adidas) company, or the Future (Puma) company. We’re capable of anything, even rebranding a pair of shoes from one brand, giving them the look of another beauty. Because it’s very difficult to achieve the exact same feel from one brand to different another brand. Some brands are very particular about these things, to the point that it almost becomes psychological.”
The player tests the boots in the training. It’s easy; he wears them for the first twenty minutes to avoid blisters, doing some light passing drills… But the real test is the match performance. I’ve had strikers I’d been trying to convince for a while wear the boots for the first time in a match and miss a penalty kick or have a bad game record, and… of course, it’s the boots! Then it becomes almost impossible for them to switch. Mbappé should overcome this every time, even if, in the official French national team photo, his transfer will likely prevent him from being in the front row reserved for the brand ambassadors of the FFF’s partner, Nike.
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