The 5 players that customise their boots the most

We usually talk about football boots, everything that goes with them and the complexity that buying a pair can sometimes entail: position on the pitch, fit, whether to wear them with or without socks, types of soles, and a whole host of other factors that we normally analyse in detail. Today we’re going to discuss a topic that seems to be taboo for brands – a subject that everyone is well aware of, but which no one has ever gone into detail about.

Players that customise their boots the most

Something we’ll hear time and time again is: “Of course, all footballers are given free boots and have them customised to their liking.” This is completely untrue. We don’t have access to figures on the proportion of footballers who have their boots customised by any particular brand. What we do know is that we don’t believe the figure reaches 2 per cent. This is something the players themselves have to earn – a privilege enjoyed by only a select few. Today we won’t be discussing each and every one of them, as that would be rather complicated, but we will be analysing those who have caught our attention the most.

Leo Messi's football boots

The boots worn by the player in the Argentina national team jersey are among the most closely watched and coveted items in the world of football. The mystery behind these adidas football boots dates back to when the F50 was the German brand’s speed king; we saw Leo Messi wearing a pair of these, featuring the F30 upper – the mid-range model in this silo – with a strange fusion of F50 elements and added leather panels. Furthermore, something that became very popular at the time was that the outsole wasn’t the Tunit one; Messi was clearly wearing the F30 outsole. In the current Nemeziz 19.1 football boots, Leo has introduced a cut-out on the instep, a feature that adidas includes as standard. This is solely designed to improve how the boot fits the foot, as our product specialist Fer Ortiz explained – he had the opportunity to get his hands on a pair.

Coutinho's football boots

A couple of seasons ago, when Coutinho was playing for Liverpool, an image went viral showing the Brazilian star wearing a pair of Nike Mercurial Vapor boots with a huge hole at the heel. Thanks to various collectors who have had access to a pair of these Nike boots, it was reported that the player was suffering from a heel spur – a triangular or spear-shaped bony growth on the heel that occurs when the plantar fascia (the elastic tissue connecting the heel to the area beneath the toes) is subjected to excessive strain and overload. In this case, a modified heel cup was added – much softer and more cushioned than a standard retail boot – to alleviate this problem to a much greater extent.

Neymar's football boots

Another player who completely customised his boots was Neymar Jr. He customised them to such an extent that the Hypervenom he wore wasn’t actually a Hypervenom – how so? At the time, he was playing for Barcelona, and clearly, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, they were Nike’s most high-profile players (nothing has changed years on). As for the Brazilian star, he was the face of the Hypervenom range, and let’s just say he wasn’t entirely comfortable with it. What was the solution? To make people believe he was wearing a Hypervenom, when in reality it was a Mercurial Vapor. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it was a Mercurial completely disguised in the contemporary Hypervenom colourways. These days, everything has changed – or perhaps not so much – because ever since Neymar suffered a serious injury in a match whilst wearing the FG studded sole, we’ve seen him wearing a sole that both you and we can buy: the AG sole.

Gareth Bale's football boots

Let’s move on to one of La Liga’s current stars: the Real Madrid player who wore a veritable ‘Frankenstein’ on his feet – we don’t say that because they’re ugly, but because the Welsh star ended up with a mix of parts from as many as three generations of adidas X. Let me explain: with the arrival of the X16.1, the footballer asked for the cut-outs from the previous generation to be retained, as you’ll see in the pictures. What’s more, these very same boots featured studs from the previous generation, with the F50 taking centre stage. In short: an X16.1 upper, lace cut-outs from the X15.1 for easier lacing and greater comfort, and studs from the latest generation of F50s. Today, the only modification we can see on the adidas X19.1 football boots is to the heel counter, as it is not as subtle as the versions available to the general public, with the modified version being thicker and providing a tighter fit.

Van Persie's football boots

Finally, let’s turn our attention to the adidas player, one of the leading figures to have worn the Dutch national team jersey. Van Persie may not be the most high-profile player, but he is certainly one of the most intriguing and particular when it comes to his football boots. At the time, he played in adidas Predators until one day he decided to switch to the leather version of the adidas F50. The thing is, that leather upper featured several additional seams that made it a much stronger structure. But that’s not all, as the outsole of these boots was unmistakably that of the 2014 adidas Predator adiPower. Could we call them the adidas Predator 50?

We hope you’ve enjoyed this short list of players who customise their boots. We’d love for you to get involved in this post by suggesting the name of any other footballer you’d like us to include. Of course, football will be back, and we need to be ready – that’s why we’re continuing to dispatch orders as normal via our website.