- Campaign (Boot Sponsorship Activation)
- New Balance has launched "Fast Is a Slow Process," a global campaign for its new Furon boot, fronted by Yan Diomandé.
- The film was made with London studio Blind Faith and director Walid Labri, shot on a grassroots pitch in rural Leipzig.
- It builds on Diomandé's existing New Balance boot deal, signed in April 2026 and reportedly worth around €3 million a year.
- The campaign lands as Diomandé nears a transfer from RB Leipzig to Real Madrid reportedly worth over €100 million.
New Balance has released “Fast Is a Slow Process,” a global campaign for its new Furon football boot, fronted by Ivorian winger Yan Diomandé. It was created with London studio Blind Faith and directed by Walid Labri through Lovesong Films.
Rather than lean into speed, the hero film follows Diomandé alone on a grassroots pitch, practicing dribbling and shooting at an unhurried pace while a narrator notes that the Furon is “built for fast football, but becoming a fast footballer can’t be rushed.” Photographer Dani Pujalte shot accompanying stills at the same location.
Blind Faith founder Benny Everitt said the film celebrates “the simple pleasure of kicking a ball around on your own,” a reminder of the unseen work behind elite pace.
The 19-year-old is a fitting face for that message. Diomandé signed his first boot deal with New Balance in April 2026, joining a football roster that already included Bukayo Saka, Endrick, Eberechi Eze, and Timothy Weah, four of whom fronted New Balance’s “Pure Ambition” boot campaign together months earlier.
The brand kept the pace up since, tapping Endrick and Saka again for the Stone Island x New Balance ABZORB 1890 collection in May.
Off the pitch, Diomandé’s own rise has been anything but slow. Since joining RB Leipzig from Leganés in July 2025, he scored 12 league goals and added eight assists last season, was named the Bundesliga’s best young player, and started for Ivory Coast at the 2026 World Cup.
That form has made him one of the summer’s most-chased transfer targets, with reports pointing to a move to Real Madrid worth well over €100 million.
New Balance’s wider roster spans sport and music, from Rosalía to Coco Gauff, Kawhi Leonard, and Shohei Ohtani, but its football push has been built specifically around rising internationals rather than established stars.
Takeaways
New Balance keeps making the same bet in football: sign the player before he’s a global superstar, then let the timing do the marketing for you. Diomandé’s deal closed in April, months before a Real Madrid transfer tripled his profile overnight.
The “slow process” framing is also a clever hedge for a brand still chasing Nike and Adidas in football; it doesn’t need Diomandé to already be the finished product, just to look inevitable.
And if the Real Madrid move is confirmed, this campaign may end up being the last time Diomandé is filmed as a relative unknown on a rural pitch rather than at the Bernabéu.
Does locking in young talent before a transfer explodes their value build brand credibility, or does it risk looking opportunistic once they leave for a bigger club? Will Diomandé still be lacing up a Furon after a €100m+ move to Madrid, or could a bigger boot brand come calling?
