Pre-season is always an exciting time, with rumours circulating about which players might join your club and a first glance at new signings training with their new team-mates. It's also a time when footballers around the globe decide whether to change their footwear, meaning boot fans like us are scouring the training pitches to spot which players are sporting new football boots...
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Mikel Arteta - Puma King SL >> Puma evoSPEED
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Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta made the move to PUMA over a year ago, and has seemingly been happy wearing the Form-stripe ever since. We've seen Mikel in both the speed and power silo's, but more recently (as he told us in an exclusive interview) he had settled for the King SL. Well now it seems the Spanish midfielder is keen to try out the new evoSPEED, so we could be seeing yet another change.
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Lukasz Piszczek - Nike Mercurial Vapor >> Puma Camo evoSPEED
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An epic boot switch from Borussia Dortmund's Lukasz Piszczek! A Vapor player throughout Euro 2012, the Poland right back has returned to pre-season wearing the unmissable Puma Camo test boots. Clearly a fan of speed boots it'll be interesting to see if Piszczek is still sporting the 'Razzle Dazzle's' when Dortmund kick off their Bundesliga campaign.
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Pablo Osvaldo - Nike CTR360 Maestri >> Nike Tiempo Legend
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Last season Roma forward Pablo Osvaldo made the switch from adidas into Nike, and was sporting the CTR360's towards the end of last season, not an unusual choice for a striker as we see the likes of Balotelli and Tevez in CTR's. But now Osvaldo has kicked off preparations for the 2012/13 season wearing some Nike Tiempo's.
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Romelu Lukaku - adidas F50 adizero >> Nike T90 Laser
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Lukaku arrived at Stamford Bridge as one of Europe's hottest prospects, and at such a young age a great acquisition for adidas. However, Lukaku struggled to establish himself and impress on his debut in the Premier League, so it looks like his footwear has taken the blame, with Romelu switching into Nike T90 Laser's a proven strikers boot with the likes of Rooney, Huntelaar and Higuain.
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Aleksandar Kolarov - adidas F50 adizero >> Nike Mercurial Vapor
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Another player to migrate from the Three Stripes to the Swoosh is Manchester City's full-back Aleksandar Kolarov. With a vicious shot and plenty of pace, Kolarov is often seen getting forward so it doesn't surprise us he wears speed boots. It does surprise us that after wearing adidas for the past two seasons he has changed into Nike, and more so that in pre-season he has tried out the T90 Laser and is now in Mercurial Vapors.
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Jonjo Shelvey - adidas Predator >> Nike T90 Laser
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The adidas to Nike exodus continues with Liverpool midfielder Jonjo Shelvey. An adidas boot wearer whilst the club was endorsed by adidas, and even represented the Predator at the adiPower launch, but at the first opportunity Shelvey has switched allegiance to Nike. Shelvey has remained true to the type of boot he wears, as he has selected another power boot, so perhaps the LZ was a bit too lightweight.
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Tony Hibbert - adidas Predator >> Nike T90 Laser
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Tony Hibbert is a loyal Evertonian, and it seems his loyalty extends to the brand he wears. No sooner have Everton become a Nike endorsed club, then Hibbert switches into wearing a blue pair of Nike T90 Laser football boots. Hibbert has previously worn adidas and Umbro boots, but it is likely he is free to choose his footwear.
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Thomas Vermaelen - Nike CTR360 Maestri >> Puma King SL
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Vermaelen caused a big stir in the boot community recently, on the eve of the launch of the CTR360 Maestri III one of the best defenders in the Premier League playing for a Nike club was spotted wearing the Puma King SL's. Obviously it's unconfirmed if Vermaelen will make the switch as he has been wearing both the CTR and King in pre-season training, but we'll be keen to see what he wears throughout 2012/13.
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Nicolas Burdisso - Nike CTR360 Maestri >> adidas adiPure
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A player bucking the trend is Nicolas Burdisso, who has switched from Nike CTR360 Maestri into adidas adiPure's. It is quite a shock as the Roma defender has worn Nike for the last two seasons, but perhaps he was tempted by the leather upper after previously wearing Asics football boots.
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Stephen Warnock - Umbro Speciali >> adidas Predator
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Another long-term faithful switching brand allegiance is Stephen Warnock. The English left-back, with a reputation for one of the toughest tackles in the game, seems to have worn Umbro Speciali's for all time! So it was quite a shock to see the no nonsense defender sporting a pair of colourful and lightweight Predator LZ's, we guess everyone adapts to the modern game over time!
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Johan Djourou - Puma PowerCat >> Nike CTR360 Maestri
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Bit of a blow for Puma, as they look to have lost one of their Premier League endorsed athletes in Johan Djourou, and doubly as he is also the face of the Swiss national team which is also sponsored by Puma. Djourou has been spotted in pre-season training wearing the new Nike CTR360's, a boot not even released yet there must have been a Nike mole that has got to the Arsenal defender.
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If there are any players & boots that you've spotted and think we should feature, mail us at: u2us@soccerbible.com putting 'Boot Spotting' in the subject field.