Raheem Sterling used a mentoring charity to help launch his new partnership with New Balance.
The Manchester City and England forward has put an end to a year of speculation after being without a boot sponsor since his Nike partnership ended by signing up with New Balance, despite interest from Puma, adidas and others.
And Sterling chose to make sure his debut campaign involved a production crew largely made up of young people from disadvantaged communities by teaming up with mentoring charity ReachOut UK.
Having attended the photoshoot and shadowed the work going on, everyone involved on the day has also been offered longer-term access to mentorship opportunities.
Sterling will hope to kickstart the next chapter of his career with this partnership after a difficult season for him that has seen him split from his long-time agent and fall down the pecking order at City under Pep Guardiola in recent months.
While he remains an important part of Gareth Southgate's plans for the European Championships starting in June, the form of Phil Foden is adding to the competition for places in the team.
Announcing his New Balance deal, Sterling said: “Growing up all I dreamt of was playing football. From kicking a ball around in Brent with my mates to my first Champions League Final on May 29 and representing my country at this summer’s European Championships, in my hometown.
"There’s so much more I want to achieve, both on and off the pitch, and this partnership will provide me with the platform to do so."
