Kanye West baffles Portsmouth faithful with random social media post wearing retro Alan Knight goalkeeper shirt

Rap star Kanye West has left Pompey fans completely baffled by after posting what appears to be a picture of himself on Instagram wearing a retro Blues goalkeeper top.

The 46-year-old, who is also a fashion designer, uploaded the image on the social media playform for his 18.3m followers on Tuesday. Although his face is obscured and many doubt whether it is actually him, the post has already received more than 1.8m likes. But while many comment on his footwear on show, the question that needs to be asked is: where did he get a goalkeeper shirt that Alan Knight would have worn during Pompey’s 1996-97 old Division One season?

In fact, Blues legend Knightsie himself took to X, formerly Twitter, last night to ask West – who legally changed his name to Ye in 2021 – can he have his The News-sponsored top back. He jokingly posted: ‘Can I have my shirt back please buddy. PUP?’. He then added on instagram: ‘I always wondered where that shirt went when I threw (it) into the Fratton End at the end of the season’, accompanied by two laughing emojis.

One Pompey fan on X, Rob Stokes, believes he might know where the American ‘Power’ singer might have landed his latest fashion item – in October West was pictured in a random sporting jumper of a Belfast Grammar School – after spotting the goalkeeping jersey on sale online for £15. But it doesn’t answer the question why the multi-millionaire decided that Thursday, December 28, was the day he’d don a mid-90s Pompey jersey designed by Asics and post it on Instagram for the world to see?

In truth, the chances are, we’ll never know. But here’s a selection of the comments posted on social media from Pompey fans left bemused by the rapper’s latest fashion statement.

‘Where on earth did he get the shirt! It’s crazy,’ wrote Raymond Ray on Facebook. ‘What in the world,’ was Todd Schuiling’s response, while Matthew Boden joked: ‘PompYe!’

On X, @DanLewis1999 asked: ‘How and why is he wearing it?’ @Nick_Wakefield wrote: ‘If dictionaries had pictures, this one would be next to the word ‘random’’, while @Adam_Cane queried: ‘Where did he even find the 96/97 training keeper top is it true the match version was only worn once in the fa cup quarter final?’

Pompey's response to West's Instagram post was: 'Up Ye Blues!' West runs his own fashion label. He also had deals with major fashions brands Adidas, Balenciaga and Gap before being dropped over a string of antisemitic posts.