Neymar is set to leave Nike for Puma, with the official announcement expected for next week. It means that one of the most biggest and longest brand x player partnership comes to an abrupt, unexpected end - we take a look at the full history of the Nike x Neymar boots partnership.
Neymar To Leave Nike For Puma - Announcement Next Week?
Nike x Neymar - Full Football Boot History - 2005-2020
Neymar had been already sponsored by Nike since the age of 13, when he signed the first deal with the Swoosh. Neymar was growing up in Mogi das Cruzes, a run-down suburb of Sao Paulo. There are few pictures of Neymar from the time before 2005 - one of them shows him wearing Adidas F50 Tunit football boots, likely taken in 2004, another shows him wearing futsal boots from a Brazilian brand.
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Neymar had been mostly wearing the Nike Mercurial football boots during his whole life (since being sponsored by Nike), with two exceptions - he laced up in the Nike Air Zoom Total 90 Laser boots in 2008, and between summer 2013 and winter 2016, he was wearing the Nike Hypervenom.
In fact, the time after Nike decided that Neymar should become the face of an all-new boot silo (summer 2013) had been the most problematic in the Nike x Neymar partnership. Neymar did not like the Nike Hypervenom very much, especially the second generation. Therefore, Nike was forced to create a few different camouflaged Hypervenom boots (Mercurial tech + Hypervenom design) before both parties ultimately decided that Neymar should revert to the Mercurial.
Closer Look | Neymar Shows Off Camouflaged Nike Hypervenom Boots
UPDATE: Neymar Trains In Mysterious Blackout Boots - All-New Nike Phantom GT?
Neymar Signature Nike Boots:
Neymar received his first Nike signature boots for the 2014 World Cup - a ultra-bold gold / Volt Nike Hypervenom colorway. Since then, Nike launched signature editions for Neymar on a regular basis, with the latest being the Nike Mercurial Neymar Jogo Prismático.
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