Arthur Melo returned to first team training with Juventus this week following an absence through injury as he nears a first team return. And he didn’t show up alone, with what appears to be the next generation of adidas COPA firmly in his grasp.
It wasn’t much of a secret that what Arthur had in his hands at the JTC was the new COPA, with the wording plastered down the side in contrasting white – no blackout prototype here. It was also fairly obvious from the silhouette what the boot was; pretty unmistakeable, with its curvy upper. So this spot was odd for two reasons: first, Arthur is normally a Predator man, so could he be set to make the switch when the new generation COPA drops? Second is the fact that this was not a blackout boot, as is usually the case with prototypes. So are we seeing the launch colourway of the new COPA?
As for what we’re getting, it’s tough to tell exactly from the one image on offer. The colours definitely highlight some changes in the upper, with the orange elements certainly not appearing on the current model. It also looks like there has been some retooling on the soleplate too. If we follow the logic that the coloured elements are upgrades/alterations, as was the case with the 'Inner Life' COPA Sense+, then we can see that the heel and forefoot have had some attention.
Eyes peeled for a better look in the coming weeks as other pros undoubtedly lace up in the next gen COPA.
