Having been way off the title pace in the Premier League this season, Manchester City are already looking to start afresh by releasing their new home kit for the 2025-26 campaign.
Sure, Pep Guardiola’s side can still claim a major trophy in Saturday’s English FA Cup final against Crystal Palace (stream LIVE at 11:30 a.m. ET on ESPN+), but after an early exit from the UEFA Champions League and potentially finishing more than 20 points behind champions Liverpool in the Premier League, they will be happy to see the back of the 2024-25 season and anything that reminds them of it.
As such, City are so eager to get into next season’s kit that they will be wearing it at this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup in the United States. The newly expanded tournament, which runs from June 14-July 13 and features 32 teams, will feature City playing at least three group-stage matches: against Morocco’s Wydad AC in Philadelphia on June 18, the UAE’s Al-Ain in Atlanta on June 22 and Serie A giants Juventus in Orlando on June 26.
The big news regarding the jersey is that is that City are bringing back the sash which, while a semi-regular sight on their away and third kits since it was first introduced during the 1970s, has never been used to adorn their home shirt before. Laid over a traditional sky-blue base is a wispy white diagonal band that looks like a feathery cirrus cloud running from the left shoulder to the right hemline.
The shirt — as modelled by City stars including Phil Foden, Oscar Bobb, Alex Greenwood and Erling Haaland — also has white detailing on the sleeves and the back of the collar.
A dual-color sash first appeared on City’s alternate kits in the 1972-73 season and has been given intermittent retro revivals throughout the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. Perhaps the most memorable modern iteration was the 2009-2011 third shirt, which ploughed a nostalgic furrow with a white base and red-and-black sash.
If City can go into next season as reigning world champions, something they first achieved in 2023 under the Club World Cup’s former and far smaller format, then the new sash home kit may well become an instant classic among the club’s fans.
