At the feet of Zlatan: all the boots wore by Ibrahimović

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is experiencing a second youth. The Swede has often repeated that he is exactly like Benjamin Button, beautifully portrayed by Brad Pitt in David Fincher's 2008 film. At the ripe old age of 39, the technical and charismatic leader of AC Milan still surprises with his ability to control the game and the his body, endowed with feet that have enchanted fans from all over the world. The size of his feet has in many cases helped Ibra, who with his 47 is not the first in the ranking of players with the longest feet. His primacy is stolen from him, coincidentally, by his Inter colleague Romelu Lukaku (47.5). Nothing to do with the 44 of CR7, the 43 of Francesco Totti, the 42 of Messi and Beckham, the 40 of Baggio and Neymar and even with the 39 of Maradona and Pele.

Although Ibra is always associated with the swoosh, at the foot of the owner of the Hammarby there have been 23 different models during his career as a sports nomad, alternating between PUMA, Nike and adidas. Zlatan has played in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, France and the US, has participated in two world championships (2002 and 2006), four Europeans (2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016) and each period of his career corresponds to a model of football boots which helped make him a hero.

2001 - 2006

The career among the pros began in 1999 in the ranks of Malmö, but Ibra exploded with the colors of Ajax, when in 2001 he made his debut with a pair of PUMA King, which will alternate with another great classic, namely the Copa Mundial. At the start of the following season, Nike comes forward and offers him his first sponsorship deal. The first shoes with the swoosh he will wear will be the first generation Mercurial Vapor, one of the models that will accompany him throughout his career. He enchants with Ajax, both in Europe and in the Netherlands, while following the example of the greats (Ronaldo and Adriano above all) and will switch to Vapor II Gold, the iconic colorway that still remains among the best ever made by Nike and those with which he will score the goal at Euro2004 against Italy on the heel. In the summer of 2004 he changes his shirt but not shoes: he moves to Juventus, but his Vapor IIs remain intact (alternating the white and gold versions). Nike decides to invest in Swedish talent and puts it at the center of one of the most incredible marketing campaigns: Joga Bonito, for the launch of the Vapor III. In 2005, the long-distance challenge with CR7, mediated by Eric Cantona, will produce an incredible boom in sales - and notoriety.

 

2007 - 2010

Even the second passage of the shirt (from Juve to Inter in the summer of 2006) does not change the style of Ibra's shoes. The first year with the Nerazzurri he will keep the Vapor III, and then move on to the Vapor IV the following year, often varying colors. Speaking of heavy goals, two goals will start from Vapor IV that will allow the Nerazzurri to win one of the most incredible league titles in history in the flood of Parma. In the 2008-09 season Zlatan becomes the symbol of a new Nike model: the Mercurial Superfly I. The season will not be brilliant, but the new model flies and will be one of the best sellers in recent years. Ibra's "stomach ache" begins, and after 3 seasons he is ready for a new adventure. On 27 July 2009 he went to Barcelona for 49 million euros plus Samuel Eto'o's card, but he had time to play a part of the pre-season with Inter wearing Nike Tiempo. The Blaugrana parenthesis (the worst of his career) will be summarized aesthetically in the Superfly II, in a second part of the season that does not see the Remutada against Inter. Another round, another year, another change: still Milan, but the Rossoneri side, always with the Superfly II and some pieces of Tiempo Premier.

 

2011 - 2014

The first experience with AC Milan will be a winner, just like the one with the shirt of the Nerazzurri cousins. In the two seasons at AC Milan, Ibra switched from Superfly II to Superfly III, before moving on to Vapor VIII, a model that he will help to make iconic thanks to the white-pink color that he will show off with his Sweden at Euro2012. After the Milanese chapter, Zlatan brings his talents to Paris and his goals as a dowry to PSG. In the first season played at the Parco dei Principi he keeps the Vapor VIII (as per tradition after each transfer), but in the 2013-14 vintage he will go further and use the Vapor IX. He will also go further in football, scoring a wonderful double in the Champions League against Anderlecht and the famous goal with the scorpion against Bastia. In the two years of Vapor IX at PSG there will also be space for the Nike Hypervenom Phantom I, in black / orange and black / green colors.

2015 – 2017

The 2013-14 season leaves no happy aftermath with Nike, because already at the end of 2014 Ibrahimovic will wear a pair of adidas f50 adizero in total black version to obscure the logos. It will be a small wake-up call for Nike, even if in the last two seasons with PSG he will fly with his Vapor X, definitely the luckiest model for the Swede. With the tenth generation of Mercurial Vapor, in fact, Zlatan will record his personal record for goals in a championship with 38 goals, a record also in the history of Ligue 1. In the last European with his Sweden, dated 2016, Ibra scares again its technical sponsor, presenting himself in retreat not with the new Vapor XI but with a pair of adidas x16+. The hypotheses of breaking up with Nike, however, disappear with the start of the continental competition, during which Ibra still wears the Vapor X. Rumors about the divorce with Nike also run during the first season in Manchester, with very particular choices: in the derby against City in 2016, Ibra played once with the adidas X16.1 in the white color of the Stellar Pack and once with the Vapor X. Throughout the season, culminating in the victory of the Europa League, he will alternate colors and models of adidas and Nike.

 

2018 – today

From the mosaics of Manchester to the palm trees of Los Angeles. The transition from rainy England to warm California does not coincide with a change of shoes: at the first with the Galaxy, Ibra is wearing a Vapor XI in the colorway of the Fire Pack, while she will complete the 2018-19 season with the new Vapor XII - yes, the ones that unfortunately he tramples on Michael Petrasso, remedying a slap. This brings us to the last and controversial season at Milan, not so much for the results as for the shoes. Ibra, who has never stopped being a Nike athlete, both in training with the Rossoneri and in training with his Hammarby, wore a pair of completely black PUMAs, before making his debut with Milan with the Vapor XIII on his foot and then mysteriously switch to the PUMA Future 5.1.