27 July 2023 , 16:23
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Barcelona have unveiled a controversial new away kit which is a strong throwback to the 1970s.
The Nike offering is a stripped back and simple affair featuring a classic look of a clean white shirt with blue shorts. The kit is quite sparse in detail, however the cuffs on the short sleeve version feature a red and blue trim while the club's sponsor of Spotify remains central to the top.
The shirt also keeps the club's roots close to its chest by including an old crest in place of the current one. In what is the most eye-catching feature of Barcelona 's 2023/24 shirt, the inclusion of the old badge which the Catalan giants used from 1975-2002, aims to give the kit a real feeling of its past.
Reactions to the kit have been tempered with the all white shirt being declared too plain while others could not avoid the association of the strip with Real Madrid, who traditionally have always worn white.
However, despite some resistance, club sources were apparently confident that it would become "one of the best-selling shirts in history" and president of the club, Joan Laporta said in an interview with Mundo Deportivo that "It's not all white".
He duly added: "It has some blue and red detail on the sleeve and it's in memory of one of the first shirts Cruyff wore at the club."
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INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JULY 26: Leandro Trossard of Arsenal battles for possession with Abde Ezzalzouli of FC Barcelona during the Pre-Season Friendly match between Arsenal and FC Barcelona at SoFi Stadium on July 26, 2023 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images) (2023 The Arsenal Football Club Plc)Laporta also said: "When we came back to the club it had already been decided and we believe that a colour should not be the heritage of anyone. In any case, it is a 'Barca White' colour."
Barcelona away shirts were always traditionally white with the legendary Johan Cruyff often seen sporting the white Barca shirt in his playing days.
Xavi's men wore the kit in the 5-3 defeat by Arsenal and will not be looking to get their pre-season back on track when they play bitter rivals, Real Madrid this weekend.
The new Barcelona kit will be seen in action as they round off their pre-season tour and you can get the new kit here.