Paris (AFP)

Neymar is no longer part of the Nike team, the American equipment manufacturer having formalized the end of fifteen years of partnership.

But what shoes will the Brazilian wear this season?

Why this divorce?

In pursuit of the behemoths Nike and Adidas, will the German Puma succeed in attracting the star, as the Brazilian press has claimed?

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A surprise divorce?

"We will never know precisely the underlying reasons for the rupture," says Christophe Lepetit, economist at the Limoges Center for Sports Law and Economics (CDES).

"No doubt during the negotiations, it appeared that Nike was not ready to make the efforts required by Neymar".

The Covid context, where even the most flourishing companies are more careful about their investments, may have played a role.

"And we do not know the requirements of Neymar", adds Christophe Lepetit.

"Nike's market share in football equipment has declined slowly but steadily over the past three or four years, before the coronavirus crisis. Nike needs to curb spending and exercise caution," says Peter Rohlmann , sports marketing expert in Germany.

Without a doubt, this change should be analyzed through the history of Neymar, who left Barcelona because he was not the only star of the team.

If the contract were to be confirmed, Puma "should make it the cornerstone of its strategy, it will be the star of Puma", predicts Christophe Lepetit.

An argument to which the Brazilian may not have been indifferent.

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A strategic move for Puma?

Puma has in its portfolio the Italian selection, Antoine Griezmann, Manchester City and AC Milan after counting Diego Maradona.

But with 5.5 billion euros in turnover in 2019, the equipment manufacturer does not weigh heavily against its two rivals Nike (39.1 billion euros) and Adidas (around 20 billion euros).

The idea would be "not to go and compete with them, I do not believe it", believes Christophe Lepetit.

Until now, with the exception of Usain Bolt, Puma did not have the same strategy as Nike based on "the embodiment and identification of the athlete", affirms Jérôme Neveu, co-founder president of the agency Advent, which measures and analyzes the image of personalities.

Since the sporting retirement of the Jamaican sprinter, the German firm no longer had in its list of ambassadors personalities with the aura of Neymar.

In the event that Neymar signs for her, "Puma is equipped with a blow of a gondola head which explodes the counters in the world and which has the popularity in France for example of a Justin Timberlake", assures Jérôme Neveu .

"It's the same type of transfer as Federer or Jordan (...) We are in a niche market of superstars, the offer is very, very low and few players can offer such marketing potential", confirms Christophe The little.

It would be "really a huge blow for Puma", estimates Virgile Caillet, general secretary of Union Sport and Cycles, that would "make them change dimension".

"It marks their desire to be very present. And there, it installs them permanently in the trio", summarizes Virgile Caillet.

Nothing has filtered out on the possible amount of the contract "but we can estimate that 8 million euros (per year, note) would be in the current market", assures Peter Rohlmann.

Half as much, according to the Football Leaks, than what Cristiano Ronaldo touches with Nike for example.

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Cohabitation at Paris SG?

For the Parisian club, finalist of the last Champions League, the divorce of its star from Nike, the official sponsor of the club, this episode is not trivial.

"This is clearly not good news for them," said Virgile Caillet.

Obviously, Neymar is not the only player to be under contract with an equipment supplier different from that of his club.

Lionel Messi for example is under contract with Adidas when the Catalan club is associated with Nike.

But this distortion of sponsorship comes at a time when Paris "is becoming the + flagship + of Nike clubs", assures Virgile Caillet.

"It is annoying that the star player is not at home," she said.

In June 2019, PSG extended their romance with Nike until 2032, signing "the most important sponsorship contract in its history".

Its amount had not been communicated but a source close to the club had mentioned a sum of "more than 75 million euros" annually.

© 2020 AFP