Is Kyle Walker NOT his real name!? AC Milan’s baffling new kit design explained

AC Milan are a powerhouse of the European game, a name carved out through countless illustrious battles fought in the San Siro, something of a holy site for any football fan.

Another part of the allure is those iconic red and black stripes, donned by everlasting characters like Paolo Maldini, Kaka and Ruud Gullit.

But the Rossoneri have gone in a new direction with their latest kit release, with one feature in particular raising some questions.

One AC Milan kit feature has baffled fans

The new fourth kit was first worn in AC Milan’s Serie A meeting with Hellas Verona. (Image credit: PUMA)The newly released fourth kit – one a black base with flashes of green, yellow and red and the other a striking red version in the same design – has been released for a commendable cause: to celebrate Black History Month in the United States and Canada.

Puma collaborated with streetwear brand Off-White to create the two designs, and it is the latter’s influence that has seen some chins scratched.

Why does AC Milan’s new kit have the players’ names in inverted commas, as though they’re not actually called that pic.twitter.com/KMmEpF6ZdyFebruary 16, 2025

A signature of the Off-White brand is blocky text enveloped in quotation marks, a feature designers have added to the players’ names on the back of their shirts.

Many viewing the kit for the first time feel the quotation marks add an unintended sarcastic tinge, as though there’s a suggestion that stars like Kyle Walker, Joao Felix and Rafael Leao are not really who they say they are.

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Despite what the shirt might suggest, Leao coming on to set up the only goal of the game against Hellas Verona with an ingenious one-two confirmed we were watching the real deal.

To confuse matters further, the red version worn by goalkeeper Mike Maignan against Verona will be modelled by the outfield players against Lazio at the start of next month, with the France international taking the black strip instead.

Santiago Gimenez scored his second-ever Rossoneri goal in the new threads – a good luck charm? (Image credit: Giuseppe Cottini/AC Milan via Getty Images)In FourFourTwo’s opinion, the two kits are genuinely attractive offerings, backed up by a great cause, and earn extra style points for this being the first-ever Off-White branded kit to be used in a competitive game.

However, for the generation still tracking Serie A thanks to a diet of Channel 4’s Football Italia in the 90s – who perhaps aren’t au fait with the stylistic signatures of the latest trendy fashion houses on the continent – there may be some convincing needed.