Nike created shockwaves in the footballing world when they announced they would be reintroducing the iconic Hypervenom silhouette combined with modern football boots innovation.
Considered one of the most infamous boots of the contemporary era, the Hypervenom was worn by some of the world’s most destructive back in 2013, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robert Lewandowski and a baby-faced Neymar Jr, who had just touched down in Catalonia.
This release follows a recent pattern of boot manufacturers reintroducing famous silhouettes. We saw it last year with Adidas releasing some of their greatest models; the F50s ahead of the Euros and both the Mania and the Elite Predators.
The Hypervenom RGN is dropping in both the Bright Citrus colourway and also “an additional colourway that harks back to Nike’s storied Hypervenom history”, according to Nike’s announcement.
This news will likely have football fans and footballers alike licking their lips, but some players haven’t waited for old boots to be officially brought back.
Let’s take a look at a few.
1 – Daniel Munoz
The dangerous Colombian full back has been wearing Nike Mercurials for years, but only this season has he been rocking the retro models. His favourites seem to be the Vapour IX and X, both released over ten years ago.
2 – Michael Olise
It’s easy to forget Olise was tearing it up in South London alongside Munoz last season, but he’s stepped his game up to a whole new level in Germany. Bayern and Palace coincidentally have similar colour schemes, so the Frenchman hasn’t had to think too hard about how to match his Hypervenom Phantom III boots with the kits in Bavaria.
3 – Toni Kroos
The purest definition of if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. Kroos won 25 trophies after the Adidas Adipure 11Pro boots were released, and he played every game in them until he retired last year.
4 – Desire Doue
The 19-year-old PSG forward seems to have his heart set on retracing Neymar’s footsteps. His playstyle, celebrations and also career trajectory seem to match perfectly, and so do his boots. Doue was spotted wearing Neymar’s signature Nike Mercurial Vapor XI Written in the Stars boots from 2017, celebrating the Brazilian’s fairytale rise to stardom.
5 – Luciano Acosta
When you think of a small, tricky Argentine forward tearing it up in the MLS, you probably don’t think of Luciano Acosta, the FC Dallas captain. He deserves his flowers though, scoring his first goal for the Texas outfit in red and white pair of the Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly III
6 – Jonathan Calleri
Formerly of Boca Juniors and West Ham United, Calleri now terrorizes centre-halves for São Paulo. Despite hailing from Argentina, Calleri has decided to instead recently lace up in Cristiano Ronaldo’s signature pair of Nike Mercurial Vapor IX CR football boots, released in 2013.
