Football boots should never be worn outside of a football pitch. Just ask anyone who’s suffered the ungainly clip clopping of studs against concrete after ambling off one.
The same goes for AstroTurf boots - granted, they look futuristic and sporty, but those plastic studs will instantly have you resembling a ten-year-old scally as soon as you step off your local 5-a-side pitch. Thankfully, we now have a middle ground...
Introducing Nike’s Free Mercurial Superfly, the brand’s newest special-edition trainer release, which takes Nike’s Mercurial Superfly – a boot we’ll shortly seen worn by Cristiano Ronaldo and the like during the 2014 World Cup – and sculpts it into more urban friendly footwear.
How, you might ask: by packing the snug fit and lofty design of the original with a Free 5.0 sole and leather heel wrap, while ditching the Nike Skin for more breathable day-to-day use - it’s quite the hybrid.
It’s also the latest HTM (abbreviated for a collaboration between designers Hiroshi Fujiwara, Tinker Hatfield, and Mark Parker) endeavour, making the stealth black kicks that bit more enticing. You can buy them online exclusively at the Nike store now.
We wouldn’t encourage a kick about in them though - they’re far too nice for that.