After over a year of uncertainty surrounding his brand allegiance Paulo Dybala has finally and officially signed with adidas on the very cusp of the 2018 World Cup kick off in Russia.
Dybala's contract with Nike expired in February 2017, and since then the Argentine has been wearing blacked out editions of the Nike Superfly, PUMA One, and adidas X 17+. It's almost a year to the day that he wore a blackout adidas X for the first time, and he even switched into the X 17+ "Skystalker Pack" on New Year's Day. An official announcement was always imminent, but adidas have chosen to strike firmly in the World Cup hype.
Could adidas have announced the Dybala deal earlier? Yeah, most probably. But all the focus would have been on the X 17 series towards the end of its shelf-life. Dybala joins adidas at a refreshed period, just as the brand are pushing their disruptive Glitch 19 series and the Juve midfielder is the perfect man to headline the collection throughout the World Cup in Russia.
It's been no secret that Dybala was about to sign on the three striped line, but it did come as some surprise when he started training in unreleased Glitch skins when he met up with the Argentina squad earlier this month. The move indicates that adidas have bigger plans for the Glitch series moving into the 2018/19 season, on the back of Dybala wearing a number of disruptive designs throughout the World Cup.
Some signing that. Dybala was undoubtably the most high-profile player without an existing boot deal, and adidas have swooped in to make things official in the week that football's biggest festival kicks off. Done.
