As Kaizer Chiefs embark on a drive to restore their glory days, they will have a monumental decision to make at the end of the season.
Chiefs are currently in negotiations with one of their major sponsors over the renewal of a contract that has spanned for over two decades.
As exclusively reported in edition 1295 of Soccer Laduma, Amakhosi's contract negotiations with sponsor Nike over the renewal of the existing kit contract have reached a deadlock.
Read: Do Chiefs Have Goalscoring Issues Without Caleb?
This publication has been informed that a rising British manufacturer Castore, has been observing that space with keen interest and could provide a solution for Chiefs.
It's not yet clear what could have caused the Soweto giants to have apprehensions about signing a new deal with Nike but there are similarities with regards to Spanish giants Barcelona also having reached a deadlock with the USA-based kit manufacturer in their negotiations for a new deal.
According to leading Spanish sports publication, AS, Blaugrana and Nike have been operating without a contract since 2016.
Barcelona's current deal with Nike is also set to expire in June 2023 and rumours have been rife that they could cut ties with the USA-based company.
AS, has reported that the sticking point for the Calatan giants in not signing a new contract with Nike is that they want "autonomy" in how the deal is structured.
Chiefs could also have a similar issue with Nike after they expressed disappointment in 2020 that the design from their own 50th anniversary jersey was used by the popular sports brand for Barcelona without their consent.
At the time, Amakhosi Marketing Manager Jessica Motaung also regretted and was discouraged that Nike told them that there was a lack of material for their 50th anniversary jersey, hence they made only a limited number of replicas available.
However, to her surprise, Nike produced the same jersey for the Barcelona mass market shortly thereafter.
Motaung stressed at the time that the design of that 50th anniversary jersey was made exclusively by the club, with Kaizer Motaung Snr playing a major role in how it was designed, taking into account the heritage of the club.
What could attract Chiefs to Castore is their unique way of giving clubs control over the manufacture and production of the replicas under licence from the premium sportwear brand.
That is exactly what Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers stressed they needed after partnering with Castore.
"The partnership model allows us to have greater flexibility and agility in getting replica product to market, making this a commercially attractive venture, significantly ahead of what we have achieved in the past," Wolves general manager for commercial operations Vinny Clark told the club's official website.
"Range and assortment of product is vitally important to us. We know our fans get frustrated when other clubs have the same kit silhouette, goalkeeper kit or training product as us, or if we can't offer ladies sizing on replica product to our many women fans.
"These are consistent themes we wanted to address moving forward, and this partnership with Castore enables us to make significant improvements in our offering," he added.
Wolves were previously sponsored by Adidas.
Castore has high-profile partnerships with a number of leading teams and athletes, including England Cricket, Formula One team McLaren, tennis great Andy Murray, England rugby union captain Owen Farrell and golfer Patrick Reed.
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