After around 20 years with Nike, Kylian Mbappé is joining On – a brand that doesn't even sell a football boot yet. What looks contradictory at first raises a bigger question: how can a new challenger compete for football's biggest names and gain a foothold in an established market?
Kylian Mbappé was already wearing Nike before the football world even knew his name. The Swoosh was on his boots as a child, and as the boy from Bondy grew into one of the best footballers of his generation, Nike stayed with him every step of the way.
For almost 20 years, nothing changed. Until now. Mbappé is officially leaving Nike. And he's leaving for an outfitter that, as things stand, doesn't sell a single football boot: On.
Why?
On Isn't Starting From Zero in Football
On hasn't come from nowhere, though. The Swiss brand built its name on running shoes and now turns over more than three billion francs a year. In football, though, it has barely registered.
As recently as 2022, On stayed literally on the sidelines in football. When the Swiss brand became a footwear partner of FC Basel, it kitted the club out with shoes for training away from the pitch and for travel. Co-founder Olivier Bernhard said explicitly at the time that there were no concrete plans to enter the football business.
Now, On has crossed that touchline. French football legend Thierry Henry has been working behind the scenes as Director of Football since late 2025, helping build On's expansion into football – including the recruitment of Mbappé.
“Pitch, pavement and runway” – that's how co-founder David Allemann has described where On Football is meant to play out. On the pitch, but just as much in everyday culture and fashion.
But that still doesn't answer the crucial question: why would Mbappé leave Nike for it?
On Isn't Just Building Another Football Boot
The next clue lies in the boot itself.
On wants to bring LightSpray, the technology it already uses to make running shoes, to a football boot for the first time. Unlike a conventionally built boot, the upper isn't assembled from several pieces; instead, a robot sprays it from a single continuous filament. The result is meant to be a light, seamless upper that sits as close to the foot as possible.
Mbappé isn't expected to simply wait for a finished product. He's set to test and help shape upcoming models alongside On's developers, and to work on the apparel side too. Mbappé himself has spoken of the chance to build something new together.
Still, that doesn't fully explain the move either.
Skechers entered football in 2023 with Harry Kane, making the FC Bayern striker and England international the face of its new football boots. A challenger brand tying its entry to a world-class player is nothing new, then.
Something else is going on with Mbappé. And for that, it helps to look at another sport entirely.
At On, Mbappé Gets a Different Role
Roger Federer is the key comparison here. When the tennis icon joined On in 2019, he wasn't just there to wear the shoes and front the campaigns. Federer invested in the company, became a co-owner and started working on product development. On later expanded further into tennis.
Seven years on, On is taking a similar approach in football.
Mbappé is expected to wear the boots and shoot the campaigns, but not only that. L'Équipe reports that his contract with On runs for ten years and includes an equity stake in the company. How large that stake is, and what other financial terms were agreed, hasn't been made public. The Financial Times has also reported that On plans to build the partnership partly on the model of its collaboration with Federer.
By the time Mbappé joined Nike, the Mercurial was already a fixture in football. The boot line had existed for years and had already been worn by some of the game's biggest names. Mbappé later got his own signature editions and campaigns, becoming one of the faces of the Mercurial in his own right.
At On, the situation is almost reversed. On is only just building its football division. Mbappé isn't stepping into an existing football business – he's meant to help build one.
What On can offer him is something harder to find at an established football giant: a place at the front of something still being built.
Ben Shelton once described exactly what that can mean for an athlete. The American tennis player explained his decision to join On like this: “I didn't want to be one of 50 Nike guys.” At On, he said, he could work more closely with the people behind the brand and grow alongside the company. Mbappé now finds himself in a structurally similar position.
What the Mbappé Deal Means for the Football Market
Different rules for the biggest sports stars are nothing new. When Nike signed Michael Jordan in 1984, the 21-year-old received a deal that was remarkable for its time, including a share of the sales of his shoes. Air Jordan later grew into a brand of its own.
In football, too, the biggest names' contracts have long stretched well beyond standard supplier agreements. Nike tied Cristiano Ronaldo to a lifetime deal. Lionel Messi's arrangement with adidas has also been reported as a lifetime deal.
The crucial difference with On lies elsewhere: in the timing.
On has signed Mbappé at the exact moment it's entering the football boot market for the first time. And the landscape there is, for now, clear-cut. According to an analysis by Pro:Direct Soccer, around 45 per cent of the boots worn at the 2026 World Cup came from Nike, just under 40 per cent from adidas and around ten per cent from Puma. More than nine out of ten pairs, in other words, came from three manufacturers.
That’s a high barrier to entry for a newcomer. Market share can’t be won overnight, but attention can. That’s why On isn’t starting with just any player, but with a Real Madrid superstar, the French national team’s all-time top scorer and therefore one of the most recognisable active footballers in the world.
A deal like this doesn't shift the balance of power in the football boot market on its own. What it does do is make sure a new manufacturer gets noticed from day one.
That's exactly where Mbappé's move could turn out to matter beyond On itself. New challengers can't build the decades-long standing that Nike, adidas or Puma hold in a short space of time. But they can find other ways to win over the handful of superstars capable of putting them in the spotlight instantly.
Whether this actually becomes a model for other newcomers remains to be seen. Mbappé is an extreme case in his own right – and there are very few footballers capable of having a comparable impact.
For On, the real test only begins once the announcement fades. According to media reports, Mbappé could make his first appearance in an On football boot within weeks. The first model is due to go on general sale in 2027.
Mbappé isn’t entirely on his own in this, either. Sydney Schertenleib, the Switzerland international and FC Barcelona player, is also part of the new football project and is working on product development. On itself has said it plans to work with a carefully selected group of elite players going forward.
His signing could also open the door for more top players to follow.
The Mbappé deal has put On firmly on world football’s radar. Whether it stays there will come down not just to the names involved, but to the boot itself.
