Luis Suárez, Rakitic, Dembélé and Vidal missing from Barcelona's new shirt photoshoot
Barcelona unveiled their official new shirt for next season with Leo Messi heading the campaign. However, there were some surprise omissions...
Some viewed it as a simple anecdote with no relevance but for others, the absence of a handful of players in Barcelona's campaign to promote the team's new shirt for the 2020/21 season was telling. Luis Suárez, Ivan Rakitic, Arturo Vidal and Ousmane Dembélé were not pictured with Barça's new shirt.
It was no surprise that Leo Messi is the visible face of the campaign, followed by the other captains: Sergio Busquets, Gerard Piqué and Sergi Roberto. Also involved were the two star signings of last summer - Antoine Griezmann and Frenkie de Jong.
Arturo Vidal and Luis Suarez missing from Barcelona campaign
Nevertheless, it was curious not to see Luis Suárez, one of the most respected figures within the dressing room or the charismatic Arturo Vidal in any of the images released for the campaign. Maybe it is just a coincidence, but it is also true that Barcelona only included players who are absolutely guaranteed to continue next season in the new campaign. That Vidal, Rakitic, Junior, Umtiti and Dembélé are nowhere to be seen could be an indication that their futures could lie away from Camp Nou.
Barcelona's new shirt went on sale from today, 14 July at the official club stores at Camp Nou, Canaletes, Roca Village and Paseo de Gracia. For the moment, only shirts from the ‘Match’ collection (the most expensive as they are identical to the ones which the players wear in competition) are available as there was a problem with the standard, ‘Stadium collection shirts which have been withdrawn. Match shirts are priced at 139.99 euros.
New Barcelona shirt based on 1920s kit
The new shirt features yellow trimming as well as detailing on the blue and claret stripes and on the round, crew neck. The design is based on the kit which Barça wore in the 1920s. The shorts and socks also features yellow trimming.
Representatives from both the men's and women's team took part in the presentation of the new kit - Barcelona Femení returned to training recently with next month's Champions League in mind - finalists last year, they face Atlético Madrid Femenino in the quarter finals in Bilbao on 21 August.