The most important thing about the English Premier League (EPL) changed in the 25/26 season. The ball. Puma overtook Nike as the official match ball provider. Nike previously provided the ball for the EPL for 25 years. Does this even matter at all?
There may be growing anecdotal evidence that the ball may be different apart from the logo it displays.
What do we think of the Puma ball drag. Is it the pitch,water, ball or just my Arteta showing. #epl-live
— Christina ((christina6ys.bsky.social?)) August 16, 2025 at 8:38 AM
The purpose of this article is not to assess whether reported differences are significant or impactful relating to player performance or ball behaviour. The following is a qualitative exploration1 of publicly reported statements regarding the 25/26 English Premier League match ball.
So what’s been said so far?
August 16th 2025
Following the first game of the season versus Wolves, Pep Guardiola was asked in the post-match press conference about his thoughts on the new ball. He states:
“I didn’t play today. So I don’t know. I don’t know. The people, where I’m concerned, my players didn’t complain. And it’s Puma right? Puma always make a really really good thing always…”2
August 31st 2025
David Raya states in a post-match interview following Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to Liverpool:
“I think it’s a hell of a strike. I remember the ball moving a lot and moving away from me. Hopefully, the next one I can save.” “It’s a very good strike especially with the new balls and everything. We still have to adapt. It’s going away from me so it’s harder to gauge and save it.” “it’s different to the Nike ball, so we have to adapt to it” “The grip is different, the kick is different. We just have to adapt after playing with the Nike ball for many years. It’s the same for everybody.”(Wilson, 2025)
September 12th 2025
Then Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim states in a press conference when asked about new goalkeeper Senne Lammens’ need for adaptation:
“…it’s a different league, it’s a different country, different trainings, different ball…”
October 22nd 2025
Newly appointed Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche states in his first press conference:
“What’s changed is the detail in the game. You know the analytics. The health and fitness. The mental fitness of players. The support systems. But the game hasn’t radically changed. The pitch is still the same size. Roughly speaking. Do you know what I mean? The ball is still roughly the same. A bit lighter maybe they tell me…”
December 24th 2025
John McGinn on Morgan Rogers’ good form this season:
“It’s cheating isn’t it? Because he’s got a Puma deal. So he got an experience of the ball before we did…”
January 13th 2026
Pep Guardiola states in a post-match press conference following his side’s 2-0 Carabao Cup victory over Newcastle:
“…the ball is tricky…”
January 25th 2026
Arsenal player Christian Norgaard during the pre-match press conference v Kairat was asked what the main difference was playing in the Champions League:
“Ummm…The ball. Euh no. Not only the ball, of course…”
Final thoughts
It’s not the first time managers and players have complained about the ball (Cox, 2025; Jackson, 2017). Last season, Mikel Arteta stated this about the Carabao Cup Puma ball in January 2025 (Aarons, 2025):
“We kicked a lot of balls over the bar, and it’s tricky that these balls fly a lot so there’s details that we can do better,” he said. “It’s very different to a Premier League ball, and you have to adapt to that because it flies differently. When you touch it the grip is very different as well, so you adapt to that.”
Whether these perceived differences are important in a true practical sense remains to be seen. Robust quantitative analyses are required to further assess the potential for the presence of true meaningful differences. In fact, some have already had a look (Tharme, 2025).
In a season where defensive tactics have possibly become more about ‘low blocks’ and compactness, could a potentially tricky lighter hot potato ball interfere with the delicate task of close control dribbling? Are types of goals scored changing (Cox, 2026)? Is Morgan Rogers experiencing the Diego Forlan effect?3 Are first touches more volatile?