The 20 best kits of the 2017/18 season

20. Tottenham, home

Spurs have made great strides forward on the field in recent seasons, and their kit department clearly hasn’t been left behind. A very snazzy effort from Tottenham, but whether it's enough to help them end their Wembley hoodoo remains to be seen.

19. Shakhtar Donetsk home

Shakhtar have long been underappreciated in the kit stakes, and it’s time to put that right. This probably isn’t their greatest ever contribution, but it’s still better than most: orange and black is a cracking combination, while the blue gradient adds a different dimension. It’s a yes from us.

18. Athletic Bilbao, home and away

It’s easier than you’d think to mess stripes up, but Athletic Bilbao have struck the right balance this year: not too many (are you reading this, Sunderland?) and not too few.

They’ve backed that up with a very smart away top, which is supposedly based on the uniform worn by the club in the 1940s. Works for us.

17. Fiorentina, home

A minimalist Le Coq Sportif classic, Fiorentina almost lost their place in the rankings as punishment for revealing four (four!) away kits for the 2017/18 campaign. None of them come close to matching this evocative purple number, which has thankfully been deemed too sacred to tinker with. Sometimes less really is more.

16. Manchester City, away

Bold from City, which is something we’ve grown accustomed to saying whenever Pep Guardiola picks a starting XI. The club have had maroon away shirts before, but they deserve credit for finding a way to put a modern twist on a lesser-spotted classic.

15. Southampton, home

A departure from the traditional red and white stripes (although not for the first time in recent years), this is a seriously neat bit of gear. Probably shouldn't have used Virgil van Dijk in the marketing material, though, folks.

14. Crystal Palace, away

Oh, Palace. You were almost there. You could have had something truly special here. But you’ve gone and ruined it with the final addition.

Let’s be clear: this is still a very lovely design, the red and blue horizontal band adding a dash of style to an already-sexy black background. It’s impossible to ignore the ugly sponsor’s logo splattered all over it, though, which is why Palace miss out on the top 10 (probably not for the last time this season).

13. Bayern Munich, home

Bayern don’t produce many duds and the 2017/18 home outfit is no exception to that rule. A throwback to the 1974 European Cup-winning shirt worn by such greats as Gerd Muller and Franz Beckenbauer, this strip features four vertical white stripes on a red canvas and is rounded off nicely with extra dashes of white on the sleeves and collar.

12. Club Brugge, away

The main blue and black band is what catches the eye here, but the trim on the bottom of both sleeves and the shirt itself are essential to the success of Club Brugge’s offering. Bonus points for the collar.

11. Liverpool, home

A darker shade of red than normal, this shirt nevertheless works really well. While the kit as a whole takes inspiration from the designs of the 1970s, the badge includes the dates ‘1892’ and ‘2017’ to commemorate Liverpool’s 125th anniversary. Sterling (not him) work.

10. West Brom, away

It would be easy to overdo things when you’ve got red, navy and white to work with, but West Brom have pulled this off magnificently.

Warning: may lose appeal when Craig Dawson’s cleaning the ball with it ahead of his 17th consecutive long throw.

9. PSG, home

PSG are going to have to shift an awful lot of these to recoup Neymar’s €222m transfer fee, so it’s just as well they’ve come up with a belter. Blending red, navy and burgundy screams ‘recipe for disaster’, but the French giants have manufactured a stunner.

8. Flamengo, home and away

Adidas have played a blinder here. Flamengo’s traditional red and black hoops are complemented by some terrific little touches, namely the two white buttons and the black stripes on the shoulder.

The away kit, a white shirt with a red and black stripe running down the left-hand side, is arguably even better.

7. Torino, home

Don’t miss the watermarked bull – the symbol of the club and the city of Turin – climbing into shot with this one. Distinctive but subtle.

6. Hamburg, away

Intricate patterns are usually a massive no-no, but an exception must be made for Hamburg’s latest strip. The diamond print is based on the club’s iconic badge of the same shape, in case you hadn’t noticed.

5. Milan, home, away and third

What a set. Amid their multi-million pound spending spree, Milan have somehow found time to produce three gorgeous kits, all of which prominently feature the club’s traditional colours of red and black. Hats off.

4. Benfica, home

Polo-style collar? Tick. Embroidered badge? Tick. A sponsor’s logo which, as far as possible, blends in rather than takes over? Tickety tick tick.

A tribute to former great Eusebio, this kit is 1960s-inspired without looking dated. It’s just a shame they ran out of inspiration before designing such a dreadfully dull away strip.

3. Boca Juniors, home

There’s nothing particularly revolutionary here, but Boca’s is among the most iconic kits in world football and the latest version doesn’t disappoint. South American shirts don’t come much better.

2. Palmeiras, home

Oh, what have they done? Only got us lustful for racing green, that's what. The Brazilian champions' delightful new kit honours their 1942 title-winning side, combining a gorgeous tone of gold with a moody shade of green that gets FFT hot under the collar.

1. Sampdoria, home and away

The kit kings are back and, mercifully, they haven’t changed a winning formula. Both home and away shirts feature the legendary horizontal band of white, blue and red; the badge remains on the sleeve, too, which is the type of thing only Samp are cool enough to pull off.

The words “la maglia più bella del mondo” (“the most beautiful shirt in the world”) are stitched on the inside of both jerseys. Who are we to argue?