Football
PA Sport 8y

Chelsea defend £90 price tag for new 2016-17 premium replica kit

Chelsea have defended the cost of the premium version of their 2016-17 kit after it was made available for pre-order at £90.

Eden Hazard and Ruben Loftus-Cheek launched the Premier League club's new kit on Facebook on Wednesday, with two versions of the shirt being made available to buy.

Standard replica jerseys will cost from £55 for adults and £45 for children and, for the first time, Chelsea will now also offer an enhanced version called the Adi Zero for £90.

Should Chelsea fans want to add a player's name and number as well as the Premier League logo on the sleeve for any of the new shirts, there would be an additional printing price of £16.95.

Commenting on the new strip, a Chelsea spokesman said: "There are people who want to buy the more expensive authentic version and we are happy to cater for that market but, to be clear, Chelsea FC are selling the main replica shirt for £55 for adults, and from £45 for children, which is in line with other leading European clubs.

"Ninety-nine percent of the Chelsea shirts that will be on sale in the UK will be the replica version.''

Official Chelsea replica shorts for 2016-17 will retail at £25, with kids' shorts at £13.

There was a largely negative reaction on social media following Wednesday's launch, with former England international Stan Collymore tweeting that the pricing of the £90 shirt was: "Absolute madness. Pure greed.''

It is not the first time such prices have been charged for "authentic" jerseys. England offered a £90 "match shirt" ahead of the 2014 World Cup, and in March this year launched a special Nike Vapour version ahead of Euro 2016, which offers the same engineered fit as players' professional kit, and retails on the Football Association's England store website also at £90.

The standard version of the England shirt costs £60.

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