Copa America, Women’s World Cup, U21 Championships….actually that’s pretty much all the football that we have on at the moment. But even though we are in the middle of what is pretty much the off season, there are still one or two boot spots to be found. From boot switches to new boots and the cheeky unreleased boot spot, check out the boot spots that caught our eye this week.

Sergio Aguero (Argentina) – Puma evoSPEED SL

Sergio Aguero Argentina Puma evoSPEED SL edited

We have seen plenty of new boots over the past month. Nike gave us the next-gen Hypervenom, adidas showed off the ACE and X, New Balance finally unveiled its football boots. This week was Puma’s turn, as they lifted the lid off the Puma evoSPEED SL that comes in at a head-scratching 103 grams. It may be taking lightweight boots to the next level, but with the boots designed to only last for 10 games, it will only be left to a select few who will wear the boots. Of course, being a Puma endorser helps too, as Sergio Aguero and Radamel Falcao wore the boots in the Argentina vs Columbia Copa America tie. Will this be a one off from the two, or will they stick by the super lightweight boot? We will keep an eye on it.

James Rodriguez (Columbia) – adidas ACE15.1 (Custom)

James Rodriguez Columbia custom adidas ACE edited

There was more than one pair of boots to keep an eye out for during the Argentina vs Colombia game. James Rodriguez has been the apple of adidas’ eye after his amazing World Cup this time last year, and he has been awarded with his second pair of golden boots in 12 months (the first being the gold F50s he received for winning the Golden Boot at Brazil). While we are at it, check out the stud configuration on James’ boots. Adidas went very experimental with the stud layout on the ACE, effectively creating a hybrid FG/AG stud configuration with many little plastic studs. James has had his boots customised with a more orthodox soleplate, and we would think he would be one of many footballers sporting the same look come the start of the new season.

Miranda (Brazil) – adidas ACE 15.1 K-Leather

Miranda Brazil leather ACE15 edited

With so many players going for the regular synthetic versions of the X and ACE 15.1, it took a bit of searching to find a player opting for the K-Leather version of either boot. Miranda has come to our rescue, as the Brazilian was snapped up in the leather version of the ACE 15.1. Here is the catch though. While adidas say the upper is made of ‘K-Leather’, there is a rumour going around that this is not necessarily ‘kangaroo leather’, but rather a high quality cow leather upper that adidas have slapped the ‘K-Leather’ tag onto. However, it still is a high-performing leather, regardless of it being kangaroo leather or not.

Alexis Sanchez (Chile) – Nike Mercurial Superfly IV

Alexis Sanchez Chile Superfly IV edited

When it comes to switching to new colourways, Alexis always seems to be a little bit of a pain for Nike. The Chilean is always very hard to budge from old colourways, and once again he has opted for an old colourway in the form of the Bright Crimson/Violet Superfly IV that was released at the end of last season over the current Silver Storm Mercurial. It could just be that Sanchez is a superstitious bloke, such that when Sanchez finds a comfy pair of boots, he just is not one to switch.

Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) – Puma evoPOWER 1.2

Oliver Giroud Arsenal Puma evoPOWER edited

The new season is not too far away now, but we have already been fortunate enough to have a peek at Puma’s new evoPOWER colourway thanks to a sneaky little unveil by Olivier Giroud. The Frenchman wore an unreleased White/Orange Puma evoPOWER while doing the PR rounds for Arsenal’s new Puma home kit, with the boot expected to be the Puma evoPOWER colourway to see us into the new season. In terms of when it will be officially unveiled, I would say it may occur either within the next week or perhaps in about a month when we get closer to the start of the new season. Considering Puma are currently on a run of unveilings at the moment (with the SL and Arsenal kit last week), I would be putting my money on it being the former.

Louisa Necib (France) – adidas X15.1

Louisa Necib France custom adidas X edited

While the only adidas X15.1 colourway made available for boys is the rather garish Solar Yellow X15.1, I think the girls had a better first colourway for adidas’ new boot. The White/Frozen Yellow/Night Metallic X15.1 released just in time for the World Cup is, well, pretty damn brilliant. And yes while it does draw parallels with the Hunt Pack launched last year, it is that great combination of a crisp pair of boots that still carry a sharp, different look about them. What can we say, the girls do get it pretty damn good…

Angel Di Maria (Argentina) – adidas X15.1

Angel Di Maria Argentina adidas X edited

We know that Di Maria has been wearing the adidas X15.1 for the past few weeks at the Copa America, but we are throwing this spot in because we are a little surprised that Di Maria has slid into the X15.1. Considering the Argentine has been fond of the adidas Predator range of boots prior to the introduction of the X15.1, it would seem that the ACE 15.1 would be a more logical switch for Di Maria, given the large number of players that adidas have moved from the Predator to the ACE. However, it seems marketing has gotten in the way of the switch, and with Di Maria being the ‘flair’ kind of player that the X15.1 is trying to advertise to, it probably saw adidas put him into the X15.1. Di Maria probably did not get a huge amount of say in it, but we wonder what he would have gone for had he been given the choice…

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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