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Why Raheem Sterling would be the perfect face for PUMA

The City forward would be changing the technical sponsor, going from Nike to the German brand

Why Raheem Sterling would be the perfect face for PUMA The City forward would be changing the technical sponsor, going from Nike to the German brand

The technical sponsorship contract linking Nike to Raheem Sterling will end on June 30 and, according to rumors, it seems that the English striker will not renew with the Beaverton brand, but could sign with PUMA, former technical sponsor of Manchester City and one of the brands that in the last year he has interpreted in the best way the "black culture", of which Sterling is one of the greatest exponents on the green rectangle, either for his Jamaican origins, or because he has always spent himself personally to combat the problem of racism in football.

Despite having been associated several times with Jordan - Nike's subbrand, also very associated with African American culture -, with the details of the alleged agreement that spoke of a £ 100 million contract, other brands such as adidas, New Balance and Under Armor have tried to sign Sterling in the last year, but it seems that every attempt has been in vain.

The possible signature with PUMA would represent a real blow especially to adidas, which at this moment does not have any athlete able to ''put his face'' in the face of issues of social origin, as instead Sterling has shown he can do in its recent past. Nike would also deprive itself of a potential image man, especially considering the cultural value of the player who perfectly reincarnates that of a rising NBA player like Ja Morant: strong, humble, ambitious and with interesting content to communicate, all characteristics that a brand like Beaverton's can't afford to miss out.

 

Right now PUMA is the favorite over all the other brands and the reasons that explain why both parties would benefit from the agreement are manifold: first of all Sterling's performance has been steadily rising for a few seasons and, given the age of the player, it is difficult to think of a reversal of the trend. If PUMA were able to sign it, it would be further proof of the brand's goal - with a marketing choice that would not only concern football but also NBA basketball -, that is to aim at young rampant with the aim of reaching Nike and adidas in the immediate future.

In fact, if on the one hand the two big brands mentioned above can focus on world-class names such as Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Mbappé, on the other PUMA has excellent players but who are already over 30 years old, see Griezmann, Reus and Aguero , which is why Sterling - with his 25 years - would represent the new top face for the advertising strategy of the Germans. Of course, Jordan's charm and the fact that he could become the first player ever to sign a big deal with the Jumpman would not be a trivial matter, but the existing contract between PUMA and the Citizens - with 650 million pounds in 10 years on the table - could help Sterling in his final choice, without considering the portfolio of Germans in London which already includes Guardiola, Aguero and David Silva, a connection that would make the realization of the transition even easier.

In addition Sterling is not a good deal only from a sporting point of view but, as we said, also for the values ​​it interprets: it has always taken an uncompromising position regarding racism, probably due to the fact that it has undergone numerous "buu" 'during the matches and PUMA, which until now has always avoided ''exposing itself'' on the subject, would find the right face in Raheem to distance himself from this scourge of football.

 

Indirectly - but not too much - a circle would close which would lead PUMA to represent Black Culture in all respects, also considering that two prominent elements such as Lukaku and Eric Bailly have recently hired Roc Nation as a proxy agency, with which the brand founded by the second of the Saddler brothers is on excellent terms.

For the uninitiated, the founding father of Roc Nation and creative director of PUMA is Jay-Z and the idea of ​​seeing Sterling collaborate on the development of a clothing line with the American rapper would be something unexplored.