Manchester City will debut a special new kit against Inter Milan in the Champions League.
The two teams who clashed in the 2023 final will battle it out once again as Pep Guardiola's side welcome the Italian outfit to the Etihad. However, City won’t be wearing their normal sky blue home kit for the matchday one fixture. In fact, they won't be wearing their yellow and black away strip, or their burgundy third kit - instead they've opted for a cream and white number.
Their fourth kit, which the likes of Erling Haaland, Kevin de Bruyne and Rodri will wear on Wednesday evening, has been designed by Oasis songwriter and avid City fan Noel Gallagher. In creating the shirt, the Citizens have honoured the 30th anniversary of the British band's ‘Definitely Maybe’ album. The album featured some of the Gallagher's most notable hits, including Live Forever and Half the World Away.
The kit, designed by Gallagher himself, takes its colours from the iconic album's cover. It has a predominantly cream base, a light-blue collar, sleeves, and shirt panel, as well as a pink trim that features the Citizens' badge and a ripple effect surrounding it.
“It's a proper honour,” Gallagher said when speaking about the new strip. “When PUMA approached us at one of the games about designing a kit it took about five seconds to agree to it.
“It’s the same colour palette as the cover of Definitely Maybe: it’s unique but it’s definitely striking, and I think it looks great. When you see people representing your club, it’s important that they look good. Definitely Maybe has never lost its magic to me, I just think it’s an amazing snapshot of what we were about.
“With the anniversary, I’ve been listening to it a lot more than I would ever listen to it, it makes me smile – they were great times. It’s spawned a great football kit, it’s legacy lives on.”
The commemorative strip won't be worn in the Premier League, instead being used for selected City's away ties in Europe. Although there has been no confirmation of which games it will feature in specifically, City have been drawn to face Slovan Bratislava, Sporting CP, Juventus and PSG away from home in the competition.
The match against Inter is currently the only time it is scheduled to be worn on English soil.