Not content to wear one pair of boots or be shifted towards only one brand, Paul Pogba is doing exactly what he wants this season, by wearing exactly what he wants. The Juventus #6 slipped into his 10th different boot of the season last night sporting a custom "Gold/Volt/Black" Nike Magista Obra against Borussia Dortmund.
Although we big-up the loyalty of players that stick with one silo for the entirety of their career, there's something equally, if not more intriguing about a high-profile player that hasn't committed to a specific brand in favour of turning up in whatever boots he wishes. Turning down the big cheques for a license of design freedom is something that has to be respected and is the exact reason why we've always got time for Paul Pogba and his unpredictable creative flair on the pitch and in the boot room.
Since the beginning of the 2014-15 season, Pogba has reached double figures for different boots. Whether flirting with the plethora of NikeID jobs and standard colorways on his Magista Obra or a handful of different looks with the adidas Predator Instinct, the French international is practically a guaranteed insertion into our weekly boot-spotting simply because of how often the player changes his footwear.
When it comes to NikeID, there hasn't been any player at the highest level that has obviously enjoyed the customisation service like Pogba. He's worn a slightly altered version of the 'Shine Through' pack that dropped the green and shifted it to black, he's crafted a predominantly red boot with black accents and stepped out in a custom blue pair with a grey dynamic fit collar that isn’t even available to the public.
The boy isn't afraid to mix things up, as demonstrated on his most recent concoction that might have more gold on the upper than Neymar’s World Cup HyperVenom. He knows that both adidas and Nike want his signature and he's milking them for all they're worth!
If Pogba chooses to drop his Magista for something from the Three Stripes, he seems to prefer his Predator boots to be of the limited variety. The Frenchman has got hold of the limited edition Predator Accelerator and the highly sought after K-leather Instinct. Not one to confine limited editions to a presentation cabinet Pogba can't resist lacing up in an adidas special release, to use them for exactly what they were made for.
Although he did slip into the standard "Infrared", "Solar Blue" and "Black/Neon Orange" Instincts earlier in the season Pogba has gone on to ditch the mainstream colourways in favour of his own signature run of boots. Half the excitement of getting a new pair of boots is choosing them yourself, that feeling doesn't fade with age, trust us and Pogba creating his own run of signature colourways rather than being told what to wear is a refreshing trend in the professional game.
While Pogba does flirt quite extensively with boot brands and colourways (even switching from adidas to Nike at half-time on one occasion), he does seem drawn to the high-end Magista. Considering his professional compatriots seem to be slowly shying away from the Dynamic Fit collar, Pogba has been using the standard collar ever since its release, using the canvas to create some interesting custom paint jobs.
Considering the ever-increasing popularity of Pogba, it seems like his days to constantly change into whatever release he would like might be numbered. Eventually, there will be a company that puts enough zeros down on a pay-cheque to tie the player down... or at least have him only wearing their brand. Even if that does happen, we hope they don't cramp the boy's style and he still chops and changes colorways rather than being another human retail mannequin.
The only thing left for Pogba is to sneak into something from PUMA... or maybe a brand outside of the “top three.” Whatever happens contract-wise there's no doubt that he's built up one mightily impressive boot collection, Paul Pogba we salute you monsieur.
What do you think of Pogba’s boots? Would you sign a sponsorship deal given the opportunity or would you try everything that the boot world has to offer?
