City paint Manchester blue, Barcelona are shocked at home and Diego Costa is still scoring goals whilst knee-deep in shithousery. Domestic football returned with a bang this weekend as we look back on a busy week to pick out the selection of the newest, oldest and most random football boots on show.
Neymar (Barcelona) Nike Hypervenom Phinish II
Neymar fronted the Hypervenom for Nike's Elite Pack players at the weekend but their was more to the Brazilian forward's footwear than what met the eye. The Barca man was essentially wearing a disguised version of the Mercurial Vapor X with Hypervenom graphics. It may well have been a disguised team too as Barcelona lost 2-1 at home to newly promoted Alaves in La Liga.
Landon Donovan (L.A. Galaxy) Nike Tiempo 6
Landon Donovan made his comeback from retirement at the weekend as L.A. Galaxy beat Orlando City 4-2. The all-time leading goalscorer in MLS history returned to the field in an all blackout pair of Nike Tiempo Legend 6 boots with the only colour coming on the soleplate with the silo callout. Donovan played his 'final' game for the Galaxy in the CTR series back in December 2014 but he's made himself available for the remaining MLS season.
Santi Cazorla (Arsenal) Puma evoTOUCH Pro
Santi Cazorla's stoppage time penalty gave Arsenal all three points against Southampton on Saturday. The pint-sized Spaniard is amongst a number of Premier League players who have switched into the youngest PUMA silo - the evoTOUCH. Equipped with a soft leather upper and hi-collared silhouette, the evoTOUCH is targeted at those players who appreciate a traditional feel that merges the latest football footwear innovations.
Danny Mayor (Bury) adidas F50 adizero
Danny Mayor took things back to the 2014 World Cup at the weekend as he helped his Bury side beat Shrewsbury 2-1 at Gigg Lane. The winger was wearing the F50 adizero edition of the adidas 'Battle Pack' that was dished out to every international player representing their respective countries at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Since then, the collection has disappeared from the pro scene although Mayor's still rocking a pair in the Rio of the north, Bury.
Francesco Totti (Roma) Nike Tiempo 6
Francesco Totti scored for the 23rd consecutive Serie A season this weekend after his stoppage time penalty gave Roma a 3-2 win over Sampdoria. Twenty-three consecutive seasons. He's scored in every season since 1993. Nothing short of incredible. The King of Roma was wearing his trademark modified boots to tuck away that pen – Totti has no problem switching colourways, and next-generations, as long as he can have his elasticated, fold-over tongue.
Joe Hart (Torino) Nike Hypervenom Phantom II
It wasn't the best of debuts for old Charlie Hart at Torino this weekend. The England No.1 dropped a cross that lead to a goal as his new club lost 2-1 away to Atalanta. Hart was selected by Nike as part of the brand's 'Elite Squad' to wear the new Elite Pack boot colourways and he'll be hoping to earn that acknowledgement by rediscovering his form in the coming months. One last word for that Kappa 'keeper top. Lovely stuff.
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) adidas X 16.1
Sergio Ramos took another step closer to joining adidas from Nike this week as he played and scored in the adidas X 16.1 'Dark Space' edition. The Spanish defender had recently worn blacked out Tiempo Legend boots and a blacked out edition of the ACE series, but after playing the majority of his successful career with the Swoosh Ramos is on the verge of swapping them for stripes.
Dimitar Rangelov (Bulgaria) Umbro Velocita II
Bulgaria just about saw off European minnows Luxembourg 4-3 in the week as they made a winning start to their 2018 World Cup Qualifying campaign. Dimitar Rangelov opened the scoring wearing the latest "Grenadine" Umbro Velocita II colourway as he gave the Double Diamond some exposure on the international scene. The Velocita II paint job was released as part of a full in-line takeover across the Medusae and UX-Accuro.
Marcus Rashford (England U21) Nike Mercurial Superfly Heritage iD
Before an impressive performance in the Manchester Derby, Marcus Rashford was on international duty for England U21's this week where he trained in the 1998, R9 inspired Nike Mercurial Supferly Heritage iD colourway. Rashford switched back into the standard Superfly V edition to help himself to a hat-trick in England's 6-1 win against Norway at Colchester United's Weston Homes Community Stadium.
Paul Pogba (Manchester United) adidas ACE 16+ Purecontrol
The Manchester Derby didn't quite go to plan for adidas on Saturday lunchtime with United going down 2-1 at home to City. Paul Pogba marked the occasion by slipping into the new adidas ACE 16+ Purecontrol "Viper Pack", complete with customised red pull tags. A strong look on pitch for the limited edition boot, but it wasn't to be for Pogba and co as goals from Kev De Brune and Kelechi Iheanacho secured bragging rights.
Alvaro Negredo (Middlesbrough) New Balance Furon 2.0
Alvaro Negredo slipped into the limited edition New Balance Furon Apex on Saturday evening as Boro visited Goodison Park. Released last week as a special edition colourway on the second-generation Furon boot, the Apex packs a clean white feel with a scattering of graphics towards the rear of the boot. Smart indeed. As for Negredo and Boro, they were turned over 3-1 by an in-form Everton.
Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) Puma evoPOWER 1.3
Another player to move straight into a new colourway this week was Olivier Giroud. The PUMA evoPOWER 1.3 Graphic was released on the morning of Arsenal's Champions League group game opener against Paris Saint-Germain. The Graphic edition features a skull print on the instep of the boot and a vibrant mixture of volt on black. Things didn't go exactly to plan for PUMA though, with both Marco Veratti and Giroud being sent off in stoppage time.
Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid) Puma evoSPEED SL II
Antoine Griezmann was sporting the evoSPEED edition of the Graphic pack last week as Atletico Madrid kicked off their Champions League campaign with a 1-0 win at PSV Eindhoven. Only PUMA know whether they intended the colourway to be a perfect match for that Atletico away strip or not, but it's an absolute winner. As with the evoPOWER, Griezmann's evoSPEED features a skull print on the instep with added heat-map design for an all-round killer look.
Edouard Duplan (ADO Den Haag) adidas F50
Edouard Duplan wins this week's Global Boot Spotting, hands down. The ADO Den Haag man managed to get his hands on the first ever adidas F50. Released in that beautiful black and yellow colourway just before EURO 2004, the F50 kicked off the adidas venture into lightweight speed boots and featured a lace cover with subtle adidas branding. Absolute gold dust, these.
Rafael Silva (Albirex Niigata) Nike What The Mercurial
Nike took slices from 16 of their most memorable Mercurial colourways in May this year to produce a one-off design-defying shoe. Rightfully named the 'What The Mercurial', only 3,000 pairs of the insane mash up boots were released and only a handful of those have made their way onto the professional scene. The latest player to sport a pair and join the likes of James McClean and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang this weekend was Albirex Niigata's Rafael Silva.
Alex Iwobi (Arsenal) Nike Mercurial Superfly IV
Alex Iwobi was in action as Arsenal came away from the French Capital with a valuable point at PSG. The young Gooner (who we feel obliged yet again to add, is Jay-Jay Okocha's nephew) was wearing a customised version of the Nike Mercurial Superfly IV. Iwobi's own colourway was a stripped back one with black and white vibes all over. Iwobi appears to be on to a more prominent role in Wenger's side this season, and for that reason we'd expect Nike to be on his case to switch into their latest and greatest colourways.
Memphis Depay (Man United) Under Armour Spotlight
Remember this guy? Memphis Depay was handed a rare appearance as Manchester United began their Europa League adventure in disappointing fashion. Memphis was back in his homeland to take on Feyenoord wearing his exclusive and signature Under Armour Spotlight 2.0 "Dreamchaser" boots, inspired by the tattoos of the Manchester United winger. Although Memphis hasn't quite set the world on fire at United, Under Armour can only play with the tools they've got and the Dreamchaser boot is one of the most underrated designs of the season so far.
Andrea Pirlo (New York City) Nike Tiempo Legend 6
Nike raised a glass to Andrea Pirlo this week as the Swoosh served up a limited edition Tiempo Legend 6 in honour of the man himself. Finding inspiration away from the pitch, the Tiempo Pirlo is inspired by the Italian legend's love of wine, an interest that stems from his upbringing and lead to his family buying a winery called Pratum Coller. Pirlo slipped into his new footwear for New York City's 2-2 draw with FC Dallas at the weekend.
Granit Xhaka (Arsenal) Under Armour Clutchfit 2.0
Another Arsenal player to emerge in new footwear this week was Granit Xhaka. The Swiss midfielder hammered home an unstoppable effort against Hull in the new, limited edition Under Armour Clutchfit boot, finished in sharp metallic to celebrate Under Armour's 20th anniversary. That's one way to put a bit of shine on the result as the Gunners ran out 4-1 winners.
Falcao (Monaco) Puma evoSPEED 1.5
PUMA invested a lot of money in the signing of Radamel Falcao, and whilst they saw some return during his rampant Atletico Madrid days, he's been somewhat of a disappointment in recent seasons. Unsuccessful spells with Manchester United and Chelsea have seen PUMA perhaps question their sponsorship of the Colombian who turned the wrong side of thirty this year, and the relationship may well be over as the Monaco striker blacked out his evoSPEED boots against Spurs at Wembley.
Yannick Bolasie (Everton) New Balance Furon 2.0
Yannick Bolaise kicked off the week by wearing a pair of New Balance Furon 2.0 boots in Everton's Monday Night Football win at Sunderland. New Balance have already roped in Arron Lennon and Kevin Mirallas at Goodison Park and now they've set their sights on another wide-man in Bolasie. The ex-Palace man has turned out in numerous limited editions and turned down even more boot deals, but could New Balance turn his head? Possibly not, Bolasie was back in the Superfly on Saturday evening against Boro. One to watch.
