The CR7 Mercurial series powers on through to Chapter 4 as Nike recall his shift to the iconic number seven shirt at Manchester United. A transformation far deeper than just one digit, it's an era in Ronaldo's life and career that served as a platform to greatness, and his latest Mercurial Superfly V boot recognises that.
An 18 year-old Cristiano Ronaldo arrived in Manchester expecting to wear number 28 as he had with his previous club, but a certain United manager has different ideas. “Alex Ferguson said to me: 'Listen, I want you to take number seven,'” recalls Ronaldo. “I was surprised because I knew the guys who had worn that shirt.” Inspired by his manager's belief in his potential Ronaldo went on to rather good at Old Trafford, as we all know, and it was at this point his career rocketed.
“It was the beginning of my success in football,” says Ronaldo. “I improved not just my skills but my body too.” Three consecutive league titles and the 2008 world’s best player award backed the skills part up, a signature underwear collection would confirm the latter. “In the five years that I was there [Man United], I learned the art of football. We won many things together. It was a dream for me,” says Ronaldo.
So what about the boots? Ah yeah, that's why we're all here. We'll the aforementioned back story about his transformative years serves a purpose as Nike's Mercurial CR7 Chapter 4: Forged For Greatness design is a nod to hot iron being forged into shape. Molten-esque orange and red gradients on the sole-plate transition into metallic tones of the colour-shifting upper. Luckily the boots have been forged into better shape than his head sculpture at Madeira airport.
The CR7 logo features a prominent 7 against tonal “CR” lettering to highlight his shift to the number, and the heel counter features the Roman numerals for 28, Ronaldo’s previous number, with the VII of the XVIII highlighted to reference the emergence of 7 from 28. And that's CR7 Chapter 4. Cos' CR28 just ain't as catchy is it?
CR7 Chapter 4: Forged for Greatness boots will be available in Superfly, Vapor, and NikeFootballX versions from April 10. Want a pair? Get them here.
