Who better the help launch a boot celebrating 20 years of iconic speed than the man who kicked off a footballing revolution? Rocking up to the NikeLab store in Milan as the new "What The Mercurial?" design dropped was the OG. El Fenomeno. R9. Ronaldo.
The Mercurial series gatecrashed the boot market in 1998, arriving on the feet of a player who defined the series. Ronaldo had pace, strength, creativity, and a ruthless goalscoring record. All attributes that the Mercurial series still stands for this very day as it celebrates its 20th anniversary. Returning to one of his old stomping grounds, Ronaldo hit up the NikeLab in Milan to launch a Swooshed up special in the new "What The Mercurial?" design.
The statement store was transformed into a Mercurial shrine for the arrival of the Brazilian as Ronaldo was joined by Global VP for Nike Football Footwear, Max Blau, to talk about the design inspiration of the latest "What The Mercurial?" and to share his Mercurial memories from his illustrious career with clubs and country.
Digging through the archives to reveal some of Ronaldo's most iconic Mercurial boots, Nike put the original Mercurial up against the current Mercurial Superfly 360 to show the journey of Swoosh speed over the past 20 years. Ronaldo was also presented with his own Mercurial Inter Milan shirt, in the same style as Kylian Mbappe and Neymar's PSG shirts that feature the Mercurial 'M' branding.
Ronaldo built a Mercurial legacy for the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, and Kylian Mbappe to follow, and his achievements on the pitch are still influencing the next generation. Monaco's 16 year-old Italian forward Pietro Pellagra was in town to meet one of his idols at the NikeLab, despite being born 3 years after Ronaldo first wore the Mercurial line.
A handful of the Nike "What The Mercurial?" boots were launched at the Nike Lab Milan store by Ronaldo, with the rest of the 1,998 pairs dropping next week. You'll need to be quick.
Pick up the limited edition Nike "What The Mercurial?" Boots from prodirectsoccer.com on March 12.
