New Puma Ball in the PL: Why Goalkeepers Are Complaining About Deadly Mistakes.

Premier League Goalkeepers Struggle with the New Official Ball from Puma

According to The Sun: Premier League goalkeepers are having issues with the new official ball from Puma and are worried that it will lead to several sensational blunders.

Puma has become the new official ball supplier for the Premier League after Nike's 25-year contract ended last season, but the new version has not pleased most goalkeepers.

In the opening round, Altay Bayındır from Manchester United and Robert Sanchez from Chelsea made mistakes, with the latter allowing the ball to slip through his hands, but VAR saved him.

A Premier League goalkeeper told SunSport: 'It feels more like a volleyball and moves very erratically in the air. Nike didn't have this.'

Another goalkeeper noted: 'The ball is definitely not for goalkeepers. I think it’s terrible. You can’t catch it properly unless it’s an old ball, but there are always new ones during matches.'

Other

The Orbita Ultimate PL 2025-26 ball made its debut in July during the Premier League's summer series in the USA.

Puma also supplies all EFL competitions, Mitre makes the ball for the FA Cup, and adidas for the Champions League.

Last season in the Carabao Cup, the Puma ball was ridiculed.

Arsenal's coach Mikel Arteta was mocked for criticizing the ball after his team's 0-2 loss to Newcastle in the first leg of the semi-final.

After stating that Arsenal missed a lot of opportunities, Arteta said: 'They had 23 shots, but only three on target.'

'We were also putting many balls off target, and it's hard because these balls fly very quickly, so we have details we can do better.'

After further questioning about this issue, Arteta added: 'No, it’s just different. It’s very different from the Premier League ball, and you have to adapt to it.'

Following Arteta's comments, the EFL responded, saying: 'All clubs are playing with the same ball.'

However, several players, including goalkeepers, agreed with Arteta that the ball was heavy and inconsistent.

Puma's marketing representative Richard Teyssie reported on the new ball this season: 'On average, a professional footballer controls the ball for about 109 seconds in each game.'