This is anything but expected. Former Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby, whose career has been more than stagnating in the past few years, has laced up in a pair of never-seen-before football boots in Olympique Marseille's training session on January 2.
Abou Diaby, who joined the French side this Summer, still wore the Adidas Ace in late December 2015, while he surprisingly made the switch to the never-seen-before cleats in Olympique Marseille's first training session of the new year (big thanks to @Footpack for the spot).
Abou Diaby Reveals First-Ever WizWedge Football Boot
Close-up picture of the boots worn by Abou Diaby.
Combining the main color black and white, the blackout boots worn by Abou Diaby may have been never seen before January 2, but despite that we already gathered various info about the brand-new boots. Let's kick off with a few general information.
The black Abou Diaby Boots are made by the French company WizWedge, who are based in Marseille. The brand just has a Twitter account (@wizwedge) and a website which is not possible to visit yet (www.wizwedge.com). However, there is already various known about the company.
The founder of the company is Jean-Luc Guer, who is interestingly also part of Olympique Marseille's staff. It was revealed that the French brand has former OM players Benoît Cheyrou (now Toronto FC) and Rod Fanni (Al Arabi in Qatar) under contract in late September 2015, while company founder Jean-Luc Guer also disclosed that the aim of WizWedge is to produce athletic footwear that is designed to limit the risk of injuries. Now let's get into a first analysis of the boots.
The first-ever WizWedge Soccer Cleat combines the classic colors of football boots (black and white) with navy details on the sole plate. The outstep and the instep of the boots come with the logo of the all-new company, which can be also seen on the tongue and the heel area. Apart from that, there are no other remarkable elements that stand out. It's a design that is just classic, similar to the look of the most traditional boots such as the Adidas Copa Mundial, the Puma King and the Nike Premier.
Tech-wise, the black and white WizWedge Soccer Boot seems to come with a leather upper with traditional stitching in the forefoot area, while the heel area is likely made from a stiffer synthetic leather-like material. The cut of the boots is also traditional, and the tongue design is anything but revolutionary as well.
The white sole plate of the first-ever WizWedge Football comes with remarkably short conical studs and a traditional stud alignment that is in line with the company's aim that we already mentioned above: design footwear to limited the risk of injuries.
However, there is neither info yet about the name of the boots nor any details when the boots will be launched. Nevertheless, it's certain that more about the boots will be disclosed soon (French football boot and kits website footpack.fr already announced that more info will about Abou Diaby's Boots will follow on their website in the coming weeks).
Nothing revolutionary, but an interesting concept. What's your first verdict on the never-seen-before boots that are not a mystery anymore? Let us know in the comments below.