Aston Villa have finally taken delivery of a new shipment of Castore shirts with the sportswear manufacturer hopeful they have now solved the club’s ‘wet-look’ issue that prompted complaints from players.
Exclusive: Despite the new shipment, it is still expected that the club and kit manufacturer will cut short their ‘multi-year’ deal
Telegraph Sport understands that Castore are still due to supply Villa with technical details over the changes that have been made before Unai Emery’s players test the new shirts out.
No matter whether a solution has been found, it is still expected that Villa and Castore will cut short their ‘multi-year’ partnership that was announced last year at the end of the season. But the two parties have been working amicably and continue to do so.
Players from Villa’s men’s and women’s teams had raised complaints about this season’s shirts that quickly become wet and cling to their bodies.
Villa felt the problem with the shirts represents a performance issue, with men’s players claiming they become heavy and uncomfortable, while women’s players also raised concerns.
The ‘wet-look’ issue was glaringly obvious during the warmer months of the season, when the shirts became much darker as they absorbed sweat. The cooler temperatures mean television pictures have not picked it up as easily recently, but the problem is understood to have persisted, despite Villa’s incredible form.
In September, Castore promised to “address this issue as quickly as possible to meet the standards we expect” and the company finally delivered a new batch of shirts to Villa last week.
Villa’s players did not wear the new shirts for either of the victories against Manchester City or Arsenal, which propelled Emery’s team to third place in the Premier League table.
They are not expected to do so in their next two fixtures, either, against Zrinjski Mostar in the Europa Conference League and Brentford in the Premier League, but the shirts could be used after that if Villa receive the technical details and are happy with them.
Castore felt the issue had been caused by an imbalance related to the BK8 sponsorship logo emblazoned across the shirts, but accepted full responsibility and vowed to find a workable solution.
Given Villa’s excellent start to the season and the superstitious nature of some players, it is unclear whether or not any of the club’s stars could request to keep playing in the batch of shirts they have used up to now, regardless of whether others eventually change to the new shipment supplied by Castore.
Source : Daily Telegraph Matt Law
