Trent Alexander-Arnold recently and publicly made the switch to Adidas as his boot providers, something that happily coincided with the launch of the new Predators – although Darwin Nunez accidentally wore them first.
Thanks to exclusive sources, Empire of the Kop has learned that our No.9’s own boot contract came to an end in December and so he and his agent were shopping around for a new deal.
Nike is the company that has seemingly won the signature of the forward, with him wearing their products for the most recent games against Arsenal (although he changed his footwear at half-time at the Emirates), Newcastle United, Burnley and Arsenal (at Anfield in the Premier League).
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However, the drama centres around the late December meeting with West Ham United in the Carabao Cup and a trial with Adidas for the match for our striker.
The former Benfica man didn’t want to fully commit to wearing the same brand as the Scouser in our team yet and so a trial was arranged in which he would sport the same boots as Joe Gomez – the Adidas Copas – for the cup clash.
You can imagine that both our No.66 and his attacking teammate were soon shocked to see that when they walked into the home dressing room for the cup clash with the Hammers, a brand-new pair of Predators were waiting for him.
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It’s not just the fact that they were the wrong boot but that they were in a colourway but that was likely supposed to be first worn by the poster boys of the company – like our right-back in England and Jude Bellingham in Spain for Real Madrid.
With this boot mishap seemingly being discovered too late before kick-off for any new pairs to be found, and despite the probable jealousy from the England international, there was no alternative but for Darwin Nunez to be the first person to wear the lace-less version of the newest Predators that were eventually sported (with laces and a tongue) by Trent Alexander-Arnold in our most recent FA Cup tie and by Bellingham against Mallorca.
Both of our players actually recorded assists in the game against David Moyes’ side too, although our academy graduate wasn’t to be outdone and grabbed himself two on the night.
Clearly the boots have some passing powers within them but given the seeming move to Nike, our vice-captain can enjoy being the main man at Anfield for Adidas Predators once again.
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