Michael Olise: The Unofficial King of Hypervenom

Every weekend I tune into a Bayern Munich game, or at least the highlights, not because I'm a fan necessarily, but purely to see Michael Olise. Yeah, of course, to watch him ball out as he usually does. But also to see what boots he’s decided to lace up on that particular day. We live in a footballing world where the latest releases, colourways and tech upgrades dictate so much of what we see on the pitch. A bit too much in my opinion. But Olise has been doing things a little differently. And somewhere along the way, he's somehow become the unofficial king of the Nike Hypervenom.

It's funny, really. The relationship between a footballer and their boots has always seemed important in the game. You can always remember a certain boot tied to a certain player from your childhood. But it feels like something has kind of changed over the years. Boot deals have been part of the game for as long as I can remember and, don’t get me wrong, when they're done right, they make perfect sense. Think Neymar and the OG Hypervenom. A young, unpredictable talent paired with a boot that carried exactly the same energy. It felt like a fully natural fit. An extension of the player rather than just another commercial partnership.

But over recent years, the fun of it all has felt a little diluted. Players are constantly stepping out in the latest releases, which happen to be pretty much every week at this point. There's nothing particularly wrong with that, it's the business of modern football I guess, but it does leave you wondering where the personality of it all has gone.

Now, that's where Olise comes in.

As far as I’ve seen, there's no particular boot allegiance or contractual obligation deciding what he laces up before a game. He wears what he wants, when he wants. And that seems to mean a pair of Hypervenoms more often than not. Not just any Hypervenoms, either. We're talking original colourways, long-forgotten releases, pairs that have become almost impossible to get your hands on. It’s every football-boot lovers’ dream. 

But it’s not just choose whichever, whenever. There’s almost a method to it. Olise has developed a habit of matching his boots to his kit, bringing a little extra thought to what could otherwise be a fairly insignificant detail. And it looks clean as f*ck. One week it's one colourway, the next it's another, but there's always something worth looking at twice. In a world where players are often dressed from head to toe by their respective sponsors, there's something so refreshing about a player who actually wants to make those choices himself.

Of course, it helps that Olise is Olise. We all know there's a certain nonchalance to everything he does. An effortless cool that extends beyond just the pitch. He's not exactly the loudest personality in the room, but there's a serious understated swagger about him that seems to grab everyone’s attention. The Hypervenom suits that perfectly. There's something about the boot's raw aesthetic and the attitude it carried when it first arrived that feels right alongside Olise's own approach to the game. It’s not a forced pairing. It just works.

And maybe that's what makes the whole thing so interesting to me. The Hypervenom’s always had a certain personality of its own. From its original arrival as Nike's disruptive new attacking boot to the countless colourways that followed, it was never shy about standing out. And it’s hype was outrageous. Neymar helped give it that identity, but now, years after its heyday, Olise is giving it a new lease of life in a way that feels completely organic.

Seeing him pull up in a different colourway each week got me thinking, it's difficult to ignore the opportunity sitting in front of Nike right now. Here you have one of the most exciting players in world football, naturally generating conversation around one of the brand's most iconic silhouettes without even needing a big campaign or marketing push behind him. There's a serious opportunity to build on that relationship, and maybe even bring the Hypervenom back into the conversation through a player who has already made it his own.

But then comes the interesting question. Would putting a deal around it actually make it better? Or would it take away the very thing that makes it so appealing in the first place?

Part of the charm of it all is that Olise doesn't appear to have to wear them. He chooses to. And that’s a big difference. There's no obligation to pick the latest colourway. It's simply a player with a preference, digging out pairs from the archive that he likes and making them part of his own identity.

Maybe Nike should leave it exactly as it is. Or maybe there's a Hypervenom-shaped opportunity waiting to be explored. Either way, Michael Olise simply wearing what he wants is exactly what the game was desperate for, and we’re here for it.

Watch this space...