Football teams around the world are releasing their jerseys for the 2020/21 season.
The international delays propagated by the COVID-19 pandemic have made it feel as though the current season and the following campaign have bled into one.
It's become customary for teams to wear their kit for next year in the final game of the contemporary season, sure, but the football calendar merging into the summer has brought this forward even more.
2020/21 football kits
Arsenal recently lifted the FA Cup in their 2020/21 attire, Bournemouth wore what will now be a Championship jersey in the Premier League and Chelsea have been wearing next season's strip for an entire month.
It's taking some getting used to, but I suspect that I'm not alone in thinking that the standard of football kit designs is continuing to rise and 2020/21 could prove to be something of a zenith.
We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves because clubs Manchester United and Liverpool haven't released their full rosters yet, but near enough all of Europe's top sides have revealed at least one of their 2020/21 strips.
Best kit releases so far
So, before we're snowed under with an avalanche of new releases, we've decided to assess which of the 2020/21 strips are the best of the bunch so far - and there's plenty of stunners on the shelves.
From quirky Premier League designs, blasts from the past in La Liga and even leaping dolphins in Serie B, we've ranked 15 releases that we consider to be the finest on the market.
Forgive us if we've missed a kit that you particularly love - though, no, your Sunday League efforts don't count - but these are the releases that loosen our purse strings the most.
15. PSV Eindhoven home
We ummed and arred about whether to include this smart effort out of the Netherlands because it seems as though the sponsors decided to write their life story in the middle of the design.
But dodgy branding aside, you can never go wrong with a cocktail of red, white and black and especially when Puma are bordering it with a gorgeous collar and sleeve template.
14. Liverpool home
Look, Nike have played things pretty safe here, though going wild didn't do them any favours with the psychedelic away strip, but we're unabashed lovers of the retro-inspired teal elements on display here.
13. Inter Milan home
We're inclined to think public opinion will waver on this jersey as much as the diagonal lines that adorn it, but we're in the school of thought that Nike have continued their golden streak with Inter releases.
12. AC Milan home
And straight from one Milan team to the other. It's pretty hard to go wrong when the legendary red and black of AC is your colour palette, though Puma have added some lovely notes to the tried and tested formula.
The texturing on the stripes is neither too subtle as to effectively be invisible or garish enough to graffiti over the tradition. Very nice.
11. AS Roma home
Again, Roma's colour palette is something of a cheat code when it comes to football kits and while we're not a fan of the alternate badge on the away strip like so many, we think the home shirt is bang on the money.
The cascade of different warm colours down the chest is unique without diverting too far away from classic designs that prove 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.
10. Paris Saint-Germain home
That bold red stripe, bordered gorgeously with white and sitting on a stunning navy background, you love to see it. We're even willing to forgive it for having a wordy sponsor just like PSV.
9. Real Madrid away
Pink kits are like calamari. When they're good, they're really good and when they're bad, they make you want to vomit.
As you can gather from Real's entry on this list, we think Adidas have got their battered squid absolutely spot on and it emotes a classic design without being downright self-plagiarism.
8. Barcelona home
Is it downright unoriginal just ten years on from the kit it's mimicking? Yup. But is it downright gorgeous in spite of it? Yup.
We don't want to see these decade-length tributes become commonplace in kit designs, but we're inclined to think this riff on the legendary 2010/11 shirt is actually better than the original itself.
7. Lyon away
I'll be the first person to admit that black jerseys and whatever Adidas are doing with the shoulders of their 2020/21 away kits are my weakness - but look at it, just look at it, what's not to love?
6. Arsenal home
On paper, filling the jersey with red arrows might have looked like a computer failure at the DVLA, yet Adidas are on an absolute roll since they started collaborating with Arsenal last season.
They're yet to release a dodgy strip for the Gunners and it's frankly an improvement on the 2019/20 home jersey, which was equally worthy of praise.
5. Juventus away
It's like the Lyon jersey, but better. The shade of blue is absolutely gorgeous, so is the - yeh, you guessed it - shoulder design and the rings around the sleeves elevate it to certified God tier.
4. Marseille away
We feel pretty confident that this is our most controversial pick in the top ten and there's no denying that covering a jersey with tiny houses sounds like a catastrophic idea on paper.
In reality, though? Oh mama. The mixture of the gorgeous blue hues combined with a texture that wouldn't look out of place in the Louvre is enough for us to skate over the 'Uber Eats' sponsor.
3. Ajax away
I have it on good authority that the very first lesson you're taught at fashion school is that Ajax are the classiest designers in the business. When do they ever release a bad kit?
The alternate club badge sizzles on the fibres in that arresting red, as does the collar, while the combination of different greys makes for both a retro and thoroughly modern vibe.
2. Pescara Calcio special
Ok, ok, ok, this technically isn't a 2020/21 jersey, but how could I not mention this thing of beauty?
We can't decide what we love more: the fact it was designed by a six-year-old, named Luigi, or how brilliantly unique the dolphin and rainbow looks. It gets a massive thumbs up from us.
1. Barcelona away
Is marrying an article of clothing legal in the UK...?
As far as we're concerned, there's absolutely no competition for the status of best 2020/21 football shirt so far and Barca look nothing short of dapper in this S.M.A.R.T. marriage of black and gold.
Take my money.
GIVEMESPORT's Kobe Tong says
If I was on 'First Dates' and one of these kits walked into the restaurant, I'd be down on one knee and discussing baby names in an instant.
I've got to admit, black jerseys tend to be the key to my heart, never mind when they're rounded off with gorgeous gold trimmings and have one of the greatest footballers in history wearing it.
So, yes, I'm guilty as charged in terms of being infatuated with Barca's away effort, but I don't think I'm alone in right-swiping it's black and gold cocktail in the hypothetical Tinder of football kits.
My love for Marseille's arty away kit is perhaps a little more niche and I actually think Liverpool's home strip is a little overrated, but one of the major winners here is undoubtedly Adidas.
I, like many others, am an absolute sucker for subtle throwbacks and there's something about the 1990s-esque shoulder design that simply pops on the Juventus and Real Madrid strips.
But who knows, there are still so many jerseys to be released that could either leave me standing in applause or Googling whether it's possible to unsee something. Either way, I can't wait to find out.
