OK, let’s get this out of the way – yes, we’re well aware of the fact that the Vapor Edge is an American Football cleat. But the pure combination of PhantomVSN tech with Mercurial aesthetics is enough to make us want to take a closer look and dream of what could be in our footballing world.
American Football celebrated its marquee event of the calendar recently, with Super Bowl LIV seeing the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the San Francisco 49ers. Ahead of the event, Nike took the opportunity to unveil their latest cleat, the Vapor Edge, which has been built for speed and performance at the highest level in professional football. And if we told you that this was a Mercurial/PhantommVSN hybrid concept, you probably wouldn't even question it.
The Nike Vapor Edge offers instant propulsion and power transfer, while the ultra-light, aerodynamic design also provides a responsive feel thanks to its independent traction pods. The Vapor Edge's airy aesthetic is complemented by a second-skin fit that employs Nike Flyknit 360-degrees around the foot and propulsion chassis. The design was a direct response to player feedback to create a cleat that feels like a sock with spikes.
The split soleplate and the dropped Swoosh instantly screams Mercurial, while the collar – complete with Ghost Lace System – resembles that of the PhantomVSN II rather than a Superfly, offering a combination of some of the best the Swoosh has to offer from the beautiful game.
If you fancy kicking a round ball about in a pair of these, they're available at nike.com
