Update: The debut colorways of the upcoming Adidas Predator 18 football boots have been leaked online. Scroll down a bit to find out about the first three paint jobs.
It's all but confirmed that Adidas will bring back the Predator line of football boots with the launch of the Spring / Summer 2018 collection, slated for December. This matches our earlier reports of Adidas discontinuing the Ace and a put a new spin on images that showed Barcelona's Ivan Rakitic wearing what looked like an Ace 17+ Purecontrol successor back in February.
Adidas Predator 18 - Debut Colorways
This image shows the colors of the Adidas Predator 18 launch colorway.
The first Adidas Predator 18 cleats will be black with white and orange, followed up by 'White / Black / Coral' and 'Blue / Lime'.
Adidas Predator 18 Boots to Be Released Later this Year
This image shows Ivan Rakitic wearing the supposed laceless Adidas Predator 18+ cleats in training.
Although Adidas released several remakes of iconic Predator boots from the past - the Mania (2002) most recently and the Precision (2000) to follow shortly - the 2018 Adidas Predator cleats won't have much in common with those classics. Instead, the Adidas Predator 18+ and 18.1 boots will be more or less direct replacements of the current Ace 17+ Purecontrol and Ace 17.1 Primeknit.
This fact is underpinned by the Rakitic prototype, seemingly a clear advancement of the former model. Furthermore, different sources indicated that Adidas made this 'name change' as late as in April, just about eight months prior to release.
The boots worn by Rakitic, supposed to be the new Adidas Predator 18+, have a laceless construction that is distinctively different from that of the Ace 17+. It's quite obvious that the collar part goes down further than on both Ace 16 and 17, while the heel counter also appears changed on first look. The sole plate, however, looks the same. Check out our detailed look at that specific prototype for more details.
The first-ever Adidas Predator 18 football boots are set to be released in early December 2017, in a collection that will also include a gold X 17. Pricing should be identical or similar to the Ace 17.
Are you happy? Share your thoughts on Adidas bringing back the Predator on the regular in the comments below. Check out the Boot Calendar for all the latest leaks and release dates.