More planned than Tottenham Hotspur contract extension announcement, Nike have given us another Cristiano Ronaldo headline in a week that’s seen already seen the superstar sign a new deal with Real Madrid and get new pair of boots. Now he’s penned a fresh deal with the American sportswear giants. Not a bad week, as weeks go...
Having signed with Nike as a gap-toothed teenager back in 2003, Cristiano Ronaldo has worn more than 60 different Nike Mercurial boots. Ronaldo, who reportedly earns £14million-a-year with Nike, has seen his goal scoring and record breaking rewarded with a lifetime deal, although no details have been disclosed. “This is a new contract, for life”, says Cristiano in the video above.
A lifetime contract would make Ronaldo only the second athlete to sign such a deal with Nike, following LeBron James who last year signed the first lifetime deal in the company’s 44-year history. To mark the occasion Nike have released a special timeline, highlighting many of the Mercurial boots Ronaldo has worn throughout his career to date. Dive in below.
2003 Mercurial Vapor - Cristiano Ronaldo becomes a Nike athlete while playing for Lisbon.
2003 Mercurial Vapor R9 - Signs with Manchester United and moves to England.
2004 Mercurial Vapor II R9 - Scores and wins his first FA Cup title with Manchester United.
2007 Mercurial Vapor III - Wins his first Premier League title with Manchester United.
2008 Mercurial Vapor IV - Scores and wins his second Premier League title with Manchester United on the final day of the season.
2008 Mercurial Vapor SL - Scores in the UEFA Champions League final and wins his first continental cup with Manchester United.
2009 Mercurial Vapor Superfly - Debuts this boot and clinches his third Premier League title with Manchester United.
2009 Mercurial Vapor Superfly - Signs with Real Madrid and debuts with a goal. On Sept. 15, he converts two free kicks in hi first UEFA Champions League game with Madrid. He goes on to become the first player to score in his first four La Liga appearances.
2010 Mercurial Superfly II - Wears the second release of the Superfly series on pitch for the first tie in March 2010, during a 302 derby victory.
2010 Mercurial Vapor Superfly II CR - Debuts his first signature boot, goes on to score a total of 19 goals in this colourway.
2011 Mercurial Superfly III - Debuts the new Mercurial Superfly III and scores in home and away legs of the UEFA Champions League quarter final.
2011 Mercurial Vapor Superfly III CR - Cristiano Ronaldo’s highest scoring boots, debuted in the second El Clasico of the season. He goes on to score the winning goal in the Copa Del Rey final and a total of 20 goals, including 11 in 4 games.
2011 Mercurial Vapor Superfly III CR - Signature colour way of the Mercurial Superfly III, worn during a Nov. 2011 derby game in which Ronaldo scores two goals.
2012 Mercurial Vapor VIII - Scores a hat-trick in a Madrid derby in April 2012 and reaches 40 league goals in the season, making him the only player in league history to score 40 goals in his first two seasons.
2012 Mercurial Vapor VIII - Clinches his first La Liga title with Madrid.
2012 Mercurial Vapor VIII CR - Scores two goals in the season’s first El Clasico, making him the first and only player to score in six consecutive El Clasico games.
2013 Mercurial Vapor IX CR SE - Opens 2013 with a special Mercurial Vapor IX commemorating his 2012 success. Scores two goals in a 4-3 win.
2013 Mercurial Vapor IX - Debuts this new Mercurial Vapor IX in Jan. 2013 and scores 2 goals.
2013 Mercurial Vapor IC CR SE - Scores in the first half during the Copa Del Rey final against Atletico Madrid in May 2013.
2013 Mercurial Vapor IX CR - Debuts this signature boot against FC Barcelona. Scores in 100th away goal in 106 away appearances for Madrid in Nov. 2014 and tallies his 19th league hat-trick.
2014 Mercurial Vapor IX CR - Wins the 2013 Ballon d’Or award, averaging a goal a game and becoming the fastest player in Madrid’s history to score 200 goals.
2014 Mercurial Superfly IV - Strikes his 50th goal for Portugal and becomes the first Portuguese player to play and score in three FIFA World Cup tournaments.
2014 Mercurial Superfly IV CR7 - Debuts this signature boot in a 301 win against FC Barcelona. In Dec. 2014, scores a hat-trick in his 178th league game and becomes the fastest player in league history to score 200 goals. Wins his second FIFA Club World Cup title.
2015 Mercurial Superfly IV CR7 SE - In Jan. 2015, he wins the 2014 Ballon d’Or award for the second time in as many years.
2015 Mercurial Superfly IV CR7 Silverware - In April 2015, scores five times in one league game for the first time in his career. In the same month, he scores his 300th goal for Madrid and becomes the first player in the history of football to score 50 or more goals in a season on five occasions. Also breaks the club’s hat-trick record with his 29th.
2015 Mercurial Superfly IV CR7 324K - Becomes Madrid’s leading goal scorer of all time in Oct. 2015, scoring his 324th goal in 311 games.
2015 Mercurial Superfly IV CR7 Savage Beauty - CR7 Chapter 1, the first in a series of chapter boots. In Dec. 2015, he sets a record for goals scored in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League with 11.
2016 Mercurial Superfly IV CR7 Natural Diamond - Debuts the CR7 Chapter 2 boots with a goal and a win against FC Barcelona.
2016 Mercurial Superfly V - Debuts the new Superfly in the UEFA Champions League final and scored the winning penalty for his second continental trophy with Madrid. Captains Portugal to the UEFA Euro 2016 title, beating France 1-0 in the final.
2016 Mercurial Superfly V CR7 Discovery - On pitch soon…
Get a closer look at the new Nike Mercurial CR7 “Chapter 3: Discovery”, here.
