Adidas ACE 16+ Purecontrol: The Lowdown

1 They’re laceless
That’s right, no more faffing around with mud-encrusted pieces of string. And Mesut Ozil, for one, is happy about this. “I revealed to Adidas in 2014 that I knot the laces over and over again and then tuck in the ends, that way they do not interfere with my touch,” says Arsenal’s assist king. “When they came to me last year with the laceless boots, it was like they have created my dream product. I cannot wait to wear them on the pitch.” Us neither.

2 It’s not just a gimmick
In the laces’ place is a ‘Purecut’ seamless upper, designed to offer pure control to playmaking masters such as Ivan Rakitic. “Because there are no laces the surface area is a lot larger, meaning controlling the ball is easier,” says Barcelona’s Croatian Champions League hero.

3 You’ll earn your stripes
“The boots are certainly eye-catching,” adds Rakitic, perhaps referring to the electric green upper and neon pink studs. But what catchesFFT’s eye is the retention of Adidas’s famous three stripes – in good, old-fashioned black. A perfect blend of the old and the new, then.

4 If it ain’t broke…
Despite being world’s first high-performance laceless football boot, the ACE 16+ Purecontrol hasn’t just ripped up the manual. By keeping the same redesigned soleplate as the Ace 16.1, stability hasn’t been sacrificed – with an added heel counter added for increased protection.

5 They fit like a glove
Or, more accurately, a sock. That’s because the ‘Primeknit’ design moulds perfectly to your foot, which means no ‘breaking in’ time. In other words, you can wear them on the pitch straight away – so what are you waiting for?

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