How to spot a fake Man City shirt (with real examples)

Manchester City shirts are some of the most copied shirts around at the moment, and our Fake Shirt Checker shows it. Of all the City shirts sent to us for checking, almost half turned out to be fake. That's the worst rate of any big club we've looked at.

The fakes weren't old Umbro or Kappa classics either. Every one was a current Puma shirt, most were black, and most came new with tags from online stores and marketplaces. If you're about to buy a black 2025/26 City shirt online, this guide is for you.

Below we go through the four checks that caught them (crest, Puma logo and tags, style number, and printing), using real genuine and fake shirts submitted to our checker.

How to spot a fake Man City shirt: the 30-second checklist

• Crest: it should be crisp, with a fine outline, a clear ship and rose, and evenly spaced "MANCHESTER CITY" lettering. Flat, blurry or stitched-on crests on current shirts are a warning sign.
• Puma cat and tags: the cat should have sharp ears and clean legs. The swing tag should name the product. A tag that just says "PUMA SHIRT" is a red flag.
• Style number: find it on the inside care label next to "puma.com" (format 123456-01). Google it, and it should bring up that exact City shirt. No puma.com, no style number or no QR code? Be very careful.
• Print: the name, number and sponsor should match the official set for the season. Prints are easy to copy, though, so never rely on them alone.
• If you're looking for an authentic Manchester City shirt browse our collection here.

1. The crest

On modern Puma City shirts the round crest should be sharp. Look for a fine outline, a clearly defined ship and rose, and "MANCHESTER CITY" spaced evenly around the ring. The two genuine 2023/24 home shirts sent to us both had a crisp, full-colour crest with a gold ship and red rose.

The fake black shirts had a monochrome crest that looked flat or slightly blurred, with soft edges on the ship and the lettering. On one fake, the customer noticed the badge was stitched on. The crest on a current Puma replica is a flat applied badge rather than embroidery, so a stitched crest on a new shirt should make you stop and compare it with the official product photos.

GENUINE: 1993-95 Manchester City shirt

Older shirts are a different story. The 1997–99 Kappa era used the eagle crest with three stars above it, embroidered, with "M.C.F.C." detailing. The early-90s Umbro away shirts carried an embroidered "Manchester City F.C." shield crest.

GENUINE: 1997–99 Manchester City shirt

The Umbro shirt below is a useful warning. The crest looked right, but without photos of the inner labels we couldn't confirm it. A good crest on its own isn't enough.

2. The Puma logo, swing tags and neck labels

Match the maker's labels to the era. On a current Puma shirt, don't stop at the cat logo. Look at the print inside the neck and at the swing tag too.

The Puma cat. As we cover in our Puma fake guide, the big-cat silhouette should have sharp ears, well-proportioned legs and crisp edges. Fakes often make the back legs and ears chunkier.

The neck print. The genuine 2023/24 home had a club graphic inside the neck, the "M11 3FF" Etihad Stadium artwork, above the Puma logo and size block. Fakes either leave the club graphic out or print it blurry.

The swing tag. Genuine Puma tags name the product, for example "MCFC Home Jersey Replica". Both fake swing tags we saw just said "PUMA SHIRT". More on those in the next section.

That fake on the right is exactly why the label checks matter. From the front it's convincing: right colour, right sponsor, right cat. You'd only catch it by turning it inside out or reading the tag.

Kappa (1997–99). Genuine City Kappa shirts have a woven Kappa "GARA" neck label with an "Official Pro Equipment" side tab and the size, Kappa repeat tape around the neck, and "M.C.F.C." printed inside the collar. Counterfeiters rarely get these details right. Our Kappa guide has more.

Umbro (early 90s). Look for the blue Umbro diamond neck label with the size. If you're sending us an Umbro shirt, photograph the inner care or "Replikit" label as well, because that's how our Umbro guide dates shirts.

3. Style numbers and care labels: the most important check

If you only do one check on a modern City shirt, make it this one. The Puma style number is the most reliable way to tell a real shirt from a fake.

You'll find it on the care label inside the shirt, next to "puma.com". It's six digits, a dash, then two digits (for example 123456-01). Type it into Google with "Puma". It should bring up that exact City shirt. If it brings up a different shirt, a different club or nothing that matches, be cautious.

What a genuine Puma label looks like

The genuine label below, from a City shirt sent to our checker, shows everything you should expect to see:

• "www.puma.com" and the Puma cat
• a style number in the right format (here, Style No. 757035-01)
• a date or production code
• a QR code
• importer details for several markets (here, Puma Japan and Korea)

If any of these are missing, take a closer look.

Red flag 1: a generic swing tag

One shirt sent to us was a new 2025/26 home, with tags, reading "744288 01 · PUMA SHIRT". Three things gave it away:

• 744288 isn't a Man City code.
• The tag doesn't name the product. It just says "PUMA SHIRT".
• The barcode starts 4053059, a Puma range from around 2017–18, not 2025.

Red flag 2: the same trick on a black shirt

A black 25/26-style shirt came with a tag reading "75912201 · PUMA SHIRT". It's the same generic format with a different number. Two different "PUMA SHIRT" tags on two different fakes suggests the counterfeiters are working from the same tag template.

Red flag 3: a care label with no brand on it

A black City "third" carried a plain care label in four languages, German first, ending "Made in Thailand". There was no puma.com, no style number and no QR code (the fake on the right in the label comparison above). We've seen the exact same generic label on a fake shirt from another club, so it's a counterfeit stock label rather than anything Puma uses.

Check the jock tag too

Modern Puma shirts have a small jock tag near the bottom hem with its own code. In the genuine shirts covered in our Puma guide, these codes usually start with a "1". Fakes often start with several zeros, or repeat the same number across different shirts.

Tip: photograph the inside care label flat and in good light. In the checks we couldn't confirm, it was nearly always this label that was missing.

4. Printing and player names

The name and number should match the official Premier League set for the season. The current set has the Premier League lion in the numbers. But prints are easy to copy, so treat them as a supporting check, never the only one.

The best example of this is a fake 2025/26 home sent to us new with tags. The design, sponsor and sleeve detail all looked right. Only the swing tag (the "744288 01 PUMA SHIRT" tag above) gave it away. Check the label, not just the print.

GENUINE: 1997–99 home (Kappa). "M.C.F.C." rear hem print, a genuine period detail.

Signed shirts. We were sent a signed Semenyo 42 home that had been bought very cheaply. With no labels photographed, we couldn't verify the shirt, and a signature needs a certificate of authenticity or clear provenance. A cheap signed current-season shirt is a red flag on its own.

Sponsor print on the fakes. On the black fakes, the Etihad sponsor was printed flat and slightly glossy, and it sat alongside a flat crest. Compare yours with official product photos.

Kappa era. On the 1997–99 home, "M.C.F.C." printed on the rear hem is a genuine detail of the period (shown above next to the fake 2025/26 home).

Man City fake shirt FAQs

Are the black Man City shirts being sold online real?

Many of the ones sent to us weren't. Four of the five fakes we found were black City shirts. Check the swing tag and the style number before you buy.

Where's the style number on a Man City Puma shirt?

On the care label inside the shirt, beside "puma.com". It's in the format six digits, a dash, then two digits.

My shirt's swing tag just says "PUMA SHIRT". Is that normal?

No. Genuine Puma swing tags name the product. Both "PUMA SHIRT" tags we've seen were on fakes.

Is a stitched crest a sign of a fake?

On a current Puma replica, the crest is a flat applied badge, not embroidery, so a stitched crest is a warning sign. Older shirts, like the Umbro and Kappa ones, did have embroidered crests.

Is a cheap signed Man City shirt worth buying?

Only with a certificate of authenticity or clear provenance. Check the shirt's own labels too, because a real signature on a fake shirt is still a fake shirt.

Still not sure? Send it to our Fake Shirt Checker

If you've been through the checks and you're still not sure, send your shirt to our Fake Shirt Checker and we'll take a look. Include clear photos of the front, the crest, the swing tag if it has one, and above all the inside care label.

Want a shirt you don't have to worry about? Browse our authentic football shirts here and use code MATES at checkout for 10% off.

For more brands and clubs, see our general fake shirt guide and the full fake guide directory.

The figures in this guide come from the Man City shirts sent to our Fake Shirt Checker between August 2025 and September 2026. It's a small sample, so treat them as what we've seen, not as figures for the whole market.