Manchester United FC 2015/16 Home - Ander Herrera 21 (Large)

After more than two decades away, adidas returned to Manchester United in 2015. The new partnership was worth a reported £750 million over ten years and the first home shirt deliberately looked back to the period when adidas had previously supplied the club. 

Designer Inigo Turner explained that the overall shape was inspired by United’s 1982 home shirt, particularly the white V-neck with red-and-black trim and the three stripes running along the sleeves. There was another less obvious reference at the bottom of the shirt: a debossed graphic taken from United’s distinctive early-1990s adidas designs. 

Ander Herrera wore No.21 throughout the season and one of his clearest moments in this exact home design came against Liverpool on 12 September 2015. With United leading 1-0, Herrera won a penalty and converted it himself to make it 2-0. Christian Benteke later pulled one back before Anthony Martial, making his United debut, scored the famous solo goal that completed a 3-1 victory. 

That gives the Herrera #21 version two strong connections: it was part of adidas’ return after 23 years and it was the shirt he wore while scoring in one of Old Trafford’s biggest fixtures, on the same afternoon another new United attacker announced himself spectacularly.