Collection Nike Mercurial Vapor 9 FG Didier Trainer Purple Soccer Boots

After the bright and beautiful Tribal Pack for the upcoming Champions League campaign and the exc

After the bright and beautiful Tribal Pack for the upcoming Champions League campaign and the excess of activity coming from the new Predator launch, adidas are really spoiling us in terms of releases at the moment especially with the new adidas Pitch Black Pack.

You might remember adidas followed up the Samba pack with some almost (but not quite) black-out models late in 2013, and as we look to the new season, theyre doing the same with their current stash of boots.

adidas Pitch Black Pack Predator Black / Neon Orange

Santos FCs star Neymars?appearance?in an unidentifiable black-out pair of football boots has got the boot-community astir with rumour and?speculation and we thought it was about time we threw our hat into the ring and explored the?possibilities?of what these mystery prototypes might be.

Outfitted in all-black, theres no disguising Neymars boots have a few key features that have people talking, including:

- A Two-Material Upper

- External Heel Counter

- Black Soleplate

- Neymars Brazilian Flag customisation

So, with those four points already visible, its safe to say these are nothing like anything Nike have on the market at present. Rather than give one guess as to what Neymars mystery boots, heres a few possibilities to chew over, along with how likely we think they are.

Mercurial Vapor IX

The first place anyones mind goes when a black-out appears is that they must be the next iteration of the boot the player plays in.

Now, whilst we have seen players testing new boots around a year ahead of release (Michael Ballack in the Lethal Zones, for example) wed have to guess it might still be a little early to see personalised models like Neymars doing the rounds.

Probability Rating: 2/5

Mercurial Vapor X

Expected to be launched in time for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Nike would be testing this new model an unprecedented two years in advance. Either Nikes quest for elite player feedback is going to new levels (which we wouldnt put past them) or these arent the Xs.

Probability Rating: 1/5

Superfly IV

Whilst the Superfly was an interesting experiment for Nike?in construction, pricing and development, we didnt really expect to see the Superfly name again anytime soon.

Though, with this prototypes two-material upper, one of those materials could be Nikes new FlyKnit. Designed as the next step to Flywire, Flykit encompasses the whole foot in a sock-like material, whilst drawing the soleplate closer to the foot.

Having a boot made of FlyKnit would be super-light and comfortable, however it would be horribly prone to damage and would give awful contact on the ball (we imagine). That said, the KangaLite-esque material on the forefoot of these prototypes would definitely help in that department. Bonus: Nike would get to keep the recognisable Superfly name.

Probability Rating: 4/5

Merurial Vapor VIII Velo

Now, heres the wildcard. Some forums and Facebook pages have started to push the name Mercurial Velo around, with the general impression being that this will be a limited-edition boot that uses most of the Vapor VIIIs feature-set, but with the inclusion of the FlyKnit technology that Nike is hoping will take the 2012 Olympics by storm.

Supposedly slated for a late-2012 release, we have to admit were super-skeptical. After all, when Nike have completely nailed the Vapor VIII why bring out a better model so soon after (though adidas habit of launching SL boots weeks after a big launch shows it is possible)?

Another thing is the name. The Velo name is awfully close to Veloci which used to be a Mercurial takedown model, and the Nike Velo already exists as a cycling shoe that takes its name from the Velodrome.

The one thing that makes it fit is the timeframe; we saw Ozil in a similar prototype back in March, and now Neymar has a personalised pair 6 months ahead of their supposed release, we must admit this does seem a likely fit though the same timescale could apply to the Superfly IV, also.

Probability Rating: 3/5

Special thanks to Joao Barroso, Gunt22 and DDChile for contributing to the debate on our Facebook page!

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