Is Gareth Bale heading for the golden boot wearing old boots? A goal in each group game has installed the Welshman as the current top scorer at EURO 2016. That was part of the plan for adidas, but not all of it. There's a vital ingredient to success missing for the Three Stripes — Bale doesn't get on with his X 16+ PURECHAOS.
The vast majority of adidas contracted players have switched into the new 'Mercury Pack' X 16 and ACE 16 boots, but Bale has remained in his heavily modified version of the X 15.1. The Real Madrid man trained in the X 16+ PURECHAOS ahead of the Champions League final but quickly switched into his trusted footwear for the Milan showdown and is continuing to overlook the new tech in France. He's scoring for fun and about to enter the biggest week of his international career to date. What are the any chances of him switching into the X16+ PURECHAOS for the knock-out stage? Slim to none, we reckon. So, what do adidas do?
The Three Stripes have used Bale heavily in the marketing campaigns for their new silo, kids have bought the boots of their favourite rampant Welshman and adidas have invested millions in Bale's contract to ensure he wears their latest and greatest product, but Bale isn't playing ball. Could adidas fine him? Absolutely. Will he care? Absolutely not. Taking a few quid off a multi-millionaire isn't enough for him to give up a boot he's comfortable in, and for Bale it's clearly all about performing with complete confidence. The distraction of breaking in a new boot in such a short period of time ahead of a UCL Final and Euro tournament was something he didn't need. Timing is the enemy here for adidas.
When is he likely to wear the PURECHAOS? He'll kick off the 2016/17 season in a pair no doubt. A whole pre-season of training, no big games coming thick and fast and a few weeks to modify them to his exact specifications. For now though, adidas will have to accept that the player ultimately has the final say in what he wears. They'll take comfort in all but a handful of players effortlessly slipping into their new design and the fact there's still Three Stripes on Bale's Wales kit. Still, back page after back page of Bale celebrating in old boots will hurt those at Herzogenaurach.
With the likes of Morata, Muller, Özil and Pogba odds-on to stick around until the latter stages of the tournament adidas will be confident of a happy ending. Nike's Mario Gotze scored the winning goal in the 2014 World Cup Final to cap off the Magista story so adidas will be fired up to bring home EURO 2016. As for Bale, he's only enhancing his reputation as one of the world's top players, and for adidas they'll reap those rewards later down the line.
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