Manchester City could complicate Arsenal’s negotiations for their next kit manufacturer deal when their current one expires in 2019.

Arsenal’s contract with Puma ends next summer, so it won’t be long before the club agree a new deal with someone.

As per Charles Sale’s report in Tuesday’s Daily Mail (and persistent rumours for some time), Adidas are heavily tipped to take over.

The problem is that Manchester City’s situation could weaken Arsenal’s bargaining position.

City’s contract with Nike also ends in 2019, and Tuesday’s Daily Telegraph, normally very reliable, says they’re linked with a move to Puma.

If Puma have the opportunity to swap Arsenal for the Premier League champions, they are unlikely to make an extra effort to keep the North London club, driving down Arsenal’s bargaining power when it comes to Adidas.

Most Arsenal fans don’t seem to care too much about staying with Puma who were desperate to land the club for a number of years.

In fact, they seem pretty excited to move to Adidas, and have been posting shirt mock-ups on Twitter.

Quality this. pic.twitter.com/nSLSAy5oFf

— Arsenal Related ™ (@ArsenalsRelated) February 9, 2018

Still, it would be better for Arsenal if there was competition between multiple manufacturers.

That way, they can drive the price up and try to improve the massive shortfall in their commercial revenue that sees them lag behind United by more than £100m.

At the moment, Manchester United earn £75m per year from Adidas, whilst Arsenal only get £30m.

That’s a massive financial gap that needs to close if Wenger’s side want to challenge for league titles.