Take our money! The Manchester United 2025/26 third kit might just be their best for YEARS

The Manchester United 2025/26 third kit (Image credit: Adidas / Manchester United)

The Manchester United 2025/26 third kit has dropped – and this is genuinely stunning.

With the Premier League season beginning on Friday, the kits for next term are mostly released now, with every home and away top having dropped: the United home shirt is a throwback to the late 90s, while the away shirt is bold and new in comparison.

But this new black-and-yellow effort for the third shirt combines both philosophies for something that feels familiar but fresh… and it's one of Adidas's best.

The Manchester United 2025/26 third kit is inspired by Eric Cantona – but it doesn't feel like a total throwback

Since bringing Adidas back into the fold in 2015, Manchester United have had curiously few black shirts – and most of them have been pretty modern in style, with base graphics or bright orange included.

This one, however, is a remake of the 1994/95 away shirt – you know, the one that Eric Cantona wore when he performed his kung-fu kick.

From the re-imagined collar with the same trim to the badge being in a shield, Adidas have faithfully re-worked the original to feel like it's a direct tribute, with the yellow a slighter brighter shade and a little more blue, just to complement the overall tone.

If you're going to do something as retro as this, the trefoil logo makes sense, too – but though this really does feel lifted from the 90s, there's something unmistakably now about it.

There are even the same subtle stripes in the base pattern: though this time, they feature the classic Red Devils logo overlaid: it follows Adidas doing the same with other elite clubs this season and it feels very 2025.

United have had some stunning kits over the years from the German manufacturer, but honestly, we're struggling to think of a nicer one than this.

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It's difficult, too, to strike such a balance between lovingly harking back to the past and simply ripping off: well, Adi have managed it, and then some, with something that feels fresh.

It's out now – and it's United's best kit of the bunch, for sure.

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Mark White has been at on FourFourTwo since joining in January 2020, first as a staff writer before becoming content editor in 2023. An encyclopedia of football shirts and boots knowledge – both past and present – Mark has also represented FFT at both FA Cup and League Cup finals (though didn't receive a winners' medal on either occasion) and has written pieces for the mag ranging on subjects from Bobby Robson's season at Barcelona to Robinho's career. He has written cover features for the mag on Mikel Arteta and Martin Odegaard, and is assisted by his cat, Rosie, who has interned for the brand since lockdown.

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