Manchester City record signing Jack Grealish has signed a boot deal with Puma which vastly eclipses those agreed by his England team-mates.
It has been claimed that the former Aston Villa man, who joined City in a £100m switch in 2021, will make £10m per season from his Puma deal after moving over from Nike. The 27-year-old is set to become "one of the leading faces" of the brand after signing a deal running until the end of the 2027-28 campaign.
Puma have made reference to wanting Grealish to represent the brand in both football and culture, while the player himself has spoken of initiatives on and off the pitch. While his deal is worth less than some of world football's biggest stars, only Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe are thought to have more lucrative deals.
"They are a brand that’s really caught my eye in the last few years," Grealish said. "Especially recently, the collabs they are doing with other brands – the people they have onboard now in NBA, F1 and football – it’s really eye-catching and it was a no brainer for me."
The £10m figure is being reported by talkSPORT, while Johan Adamsson - Puma's global director of sports marketing and sports licensing - has pointed to the England star's wider involvement. "He turns heads on and off the pitch with his quick feet and personal style which makes him an outstanding new addition to the PUMA family," Adamsson said in a press release. Jack’s position opens the opportunities to work across many of our fashion-forward initiatives and work together with him on his many personal causes."
Based on figures available in 2022, Grealish's deal is one of only five worth eight figures per year. It also dwarfs the sums earned by other British players, with the recently-retired Gareth Bale the next-closest with the £4m per year deal he signed in his Real Madrid days.
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In an interview published by Puma, Grealish himself spoke in depth about both football and fashion, as well as his earliest memories of the brand. He praised the style of Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema, while also speaking of his love for the Puma King boots, the first version of which came out before he was even born.
"Definitely the Puma Kings!" Grealish said when asked about his earliest memory of the brand. "I just remember them back in the day, I actually had a pair at one point, they were brown when I was young.
"I loved them. It’s probably one of my earliest memories.. it would definitely be the Puma Kings."
