Half heartened friendlies, games between football’s giant teams a long, long way from where they are normally played, it has to be pre-season football. But pre-season football means one thing to us at The Instep, and that is interesting boot spots. We have some cracking boot spots this week. Plenty of custom boots, boot switches, this week’s spotting is a must read. Kick start your Monday with our low down of this week’s action.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) – Nike Mercurial Superfly IV (Custom)

Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid custom SF IV edited

Real Madrid are in the middle of the International Champions Cup in Melbourne, but I do not have a clue why they are here. It is summertime in Europe, yet it is a crisp 1 degree in the mornings here as I type this. I know where I would rather be….anyway, Ronaldo wore a rather unexpected boot for Madrid’s friendly against Roma, as he brought out the old Electric Green Superfly IV, complete with his custom Dynamic Fit Collar. It is surely a temporary switch from the Portuguese superstar, but we are sure Nike will not be too happy seeing their man in the old colourway. 

Samir Nasri (Manchester City) – Nike Tiempo Legend V (Custom)

Samir Nasri Manchester City NB edited

So this one has us scratching our heads a little bit. Despite being one of the faces of the New Balance range last season, Samir Nasri wore a blackout version of the Nike Tiempo Legend V during Manchester City’s pre-season friendly against sister club Melbourne City. Blackouts normally point the sign to one thing in the boot world, we could be seeing an out of contract Nasri making the switch to Nike. New Balance would surely try and convince the Frenchman to do otherwise to ensure they do not undo all the rapport they would have built up last season with Nasri, but this is a boot situation we will certainly be keeping an eye on over the coming weeks.

Theo Walcott (Arsenal) – adidas X15.1 (Custom)

Theo Walcott Arsenal custom X edited

Arsenal is currently spending their pre-season in Asia, and Arsenal dispatching Everton to win the Barclays Asia Trophy. A good sight for Arsenal fans would have been Walcott  scoring his side’s first goal of the game, which came about thanks to some terrific work by Santi Carzola. But we are here to look at Walcott’s boots, who is wearing a heavily modified X15.1. The winger does not seem to be a fan of the new boot, as he is effectively wearing an F50 adiZero painted over in X15.1 colours. That is, his boots feature a Sprintframe outsole and HybridTouch upper whilst ditching the Techfit Collar and X-Cage. The boots are extremely well camouflaged, but the subtle differences are there to see. 

Francesco Totti (Roma) – Nike Tiempo Legend V (Custom)

Francesco Totti Roma custom Tiempo V edited

Talking about a player who has serious demands when it comes to the boots on his feet, Totti has always been known for wanting his trademark fold-over tongue when it comes to his boots. Nike launched it into the mainstream last season when they released the limited edition Totti-inspired Tiempo, but Nike have since made Totti move on to the more recent grey Tiempo V. But as always, the Italian maestro has had his boots finished off with a fold-over tongue. We have a feeling that we will see Totti wearing these boots for quite a while, a part of me just cannot see Totti wearing the green Tiempo V launched in the new Lightning Storm pack….

Dipo Akinyemi (Stevenage) – Nike Mercurial Superfly IV (Custom)
Dipo Akinyemi Stevenage SF IV edited
Our boot spottings are just not complete without having a spot featuring a NikeiD or miadidas customisation job. This week, we have a rather lovely effort from Dipo Akinyemi. The Stevenage striker took his black Superfly IVs up a notch with a red Nike tick that features the same effect on it as the White pack of Nike boots that was launched last season that is meant to reference fireworks against a New Years Eve skyline. Definitely a nice little effort from Akinyemi on his boots.
Kolo Toure (Liverpool) – New Balance Visaro
Kolo Toure Liverpool NB Visaro edited
So maybe Samir Nasri is not wearing New Balance boots like everyone expected, but at least Kolo Toure has given us a glimpse of the New Balance Visaro this pre-season. Kolo did not get a prototype edition of the Visaro last season like some of his colleagues, as he instead stuck with the Warrior Sports Skreamer. The Visaro is arguably the direct successor to the Skreamer, so it is an understandable switch by the Ivory Coast defender.
Lucas Moura (PSG) – adidas X15.1
Lucas Moura PSG X edited
With nearly every player opting for the bright launch colourway for the X15.1, Lucas Moura has gone against the grain as he has picked up the yet-to-be-released blue colourway for the X15.1. The blue colourway is available from SoccerPro, but we expect to see adidas officially lift the lid on the colourway sometime this week. Given that the launch colourway of the X15.1 is quite polarizing, we would not be surprised to see quite a few players jump ship to the third colourway released on the X15.1.
Jose Mourinho (Chelsea) – adidas Predator LZ II (Custom)
Jose Mourinho Chelsea custom Instinct edited
What can you say about the bloke, he is a genius of a coach who always likes to do things a little bit different, and it is the same when it comes to his boots of choice too. While most coaches settle for something a little more traditional (the Nike Tiempo Premier, Copa Mundial, Puma King etc.), Jose has not only gone for the left field choice of the Predator Instinct II, but he has also had his boots customised in the Chelsea colours. He is just a little bit too cool for the game…
That is it for our boot spotting today, what was your favourite spot this week? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
 

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