Training ahead of tomorrow's clash with Sevilla, FC Barcelona and Brazil superstar Neymar today laced up in a pair of completely blacked-out, previously unseen football boots.
Neymar Trains in Unique Blackout Boots
Neymar today trained in a pair of completely new blackout football boots.
Although they are all-black, it's possible to say that Neymar's new cleats look unlike anything that's currently on the market from Nike.
And, even though we recently revealed that Nike would soon return to the upper of the first-generation Hypervenoms and the structure of the front echoes that of the original Hypervenoms, it doesn't go all around the boot, with the rear part clearly boasting an entirely different, leather like upper. That, and the fact that the Flywire strings are less angled and rather aligned parallel, unlike on the Hypervenom II, lead us to the conclusion that Neymar wasn't wearing a prototype of the revamped second-generation Hypervenom boots.
They're also not the next-gen Nike Magista Obra or Opus boots, even though Neymar was the first player to give the former ones a run-out last summer. The upper of both is not quite similar to what Neymar was spotted wearing today. The sole plate does however look quite a bit like that of the new Magistas, but unfortunately it's not possible to tell exactly without getting a look at the bottom.
Besides the totally unique upper, the tongue construction and lacing system of Neymar's new blackout boots also caught our attention. Although similarly offset to the outside, it looks quite different than the Hypervenom-Mercurial hybrids that Neymar is usually sporting, there might even be one lace hole less. This one's a bit of speculation, but the tongue does have a bit of a Flyknit look to it, too.
All in all, it's most likely that Neymar's boots are not something we'll see in an actual game anytime soon. The fact they're blacked-out and the dissimilarity to Neymar's current football boots speak a clear language in this regard. Since they're also neither the upcoming, changed Hypervenom IIs or the next-gen Magistas, it seems most probable that they are a completely new boot, either a new silo, an one-off boot (remember the Nike Green Speed, released for the 2012 Olympics?), or an early prototype of a next-gen Hypervenom (although those are not expected to hit before summer 2017).
What do you think Neymar was wearing in today's training? Drop us a line below.