As a testament to the rapid progress the club has made over the last few seasons, RB Leipzig are set to take a position amongst the Swoosh’s select as they become Nike’s tenth elite team alongside Atletico, Barcelona, Chelsea, Galatasaray, Inter, Liverpool, PSG, Roma and Tottenham for the 2020/21 season.
RB Leipzig originally signed a deal with Nike in 2014 following their promotion from Bundesliga 2, and since then they haven’t looked back, going on to be one of the Bundesliga’s leading clubs, with second and third place finishes under their belt. They currently sit second in the league, one point behind leaders Bayern Munich, and have qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League for the first time in their history. And they’ve achieved all this with what is a particularly young squad, under the watchful eye of 32-year-old manager, Julian Nagelsmann. As a package, it’s a particularly attractive proposition for the future, and Nike have decided to position them accordingly, among the other European heavyweights on their roster.
With two teams from Spain (Atletico and Barca), one each from France (PSG), Italy (Inter) and Turkey (Galatasaray) and three from England (Chelsea, Spurs and newly-recruited Liverpool) Leipzig will take the tenth position, becoming the only German representative, something which has long been overdue.
The elevation in status at Nike will see Leipzig afforded all the same perks that are currently on offer for the other elite teams, including 100 percent bespoke kits that will utilise the next-gen Vapor AeroSwift template. Along with this, the German side will also likely get a third kit for the 2020/21 season, with rumours suggesting that Nike are planning on following this season’s retro designs up with options that follow an Air Max-inspired theme, although this hasn’t officially been confirmed yet.
10 – it’s a nice round number. Stay tuned to see what Nike do with the 2019/20 RB Leipzig kits.
