Manchester City celebrate Lunar New Year with special kit

In what is fast becoming a club tradition, Manchester City have once again released a special-edition jersey to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

The latest iteration, heralding the imminent onset of the Year of the Fire Horse, which begins on Feb. 17 this year, is perhaps the most eye-catching design yet.

The prematch shirt is covered in hand-drawn horse motifs in a traditional Chinese ink and watercolour style. The result is a dense, almost camouflage-like pattern made up of multiple equine forms.

Manufacturers Puma say that the Fire Horse artwork embodies power, movement and relentless drive — three essential qualities that City will need to summon if they intend on usurping leaders Arsenal at the summit of the Premier League this season. If in doubt, just use more horsepower.

The badges and logos appear in beige with metallic gold detailing to add an extra air of luxe to the equation, fitting for a lunar year which only occurs once every 60 years.

The wider “Horse Capsule” collection from Manchester City also includes an anthem jacket in a much more restrained design, a t-shirt featuring a galloping blue steed and a baseball cap.

City unveiled their first Lunar New Year kit in 2023 — the Year of the Rabbit — with a special shirt inspired by the surface of the moon itself. Which was fitting, given the song “Blue Moon” is such a club anthem.

The Year of the Dragon kit followed in 2024, for which the club released a pale grey design that featured hand-drawn wood carvings of said mythical beast wound around the wearer’s torso.

We can’t wait to see what City produce for the next year of the lunisolar calendar — the Year of the Goat, which begins on Feb. 6, 2027.