Wiki(Boot)Leaks: Soccer Reviews Reveals the Predator D5

We love giving new boots their debut in our Wiki(Boot)Leaks articles, but this one is a little bit special. We’re now lifting the lid on a brand new boot silo, the Adidas Predator D5 range, the new competitor to the Nike CTR360 Maestri. ***Our images have been removed due to adidas asking us to take them down. We will however have more in the future, so stay tuned to Soccer Reviews! 

Soccer Reviews was the first to the ball when we exclusively revealed the specs of Adidas’ new control boot a few weeks ago. With new technology to aid ball control and feel, it’ll become the direct competitor for the Nike CTR360 Maestri, so it’ll be interesting to see what Adidas serve up. I have to admit, the first I thought was ‘Wow.’

It’s fair to say the design of the Adidas D5 is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. The sharp contrast between the synthetic leather upper and the ball control ‘pads’ is very unique and will certainly cause debate amongst Soccer Reviews followers. Let’s go through each new colourway one by one.

Starting with what we expect to be the headline colourway for the new D5 range. The Bright Blue/Infared/Collegiate Navy/White colourway is certainly bold and, like what Adidas did with the AdiPower, Adidas are ensuring the headline colourway for the new boot range is bright and memorable to consumers. This technique has been very successful with the AdiPower and it’s out in full force again. The sharp eyed amongst us will pick out the micoach area built within the soleplate and the SprintFrame design, suggesting this is the top of the range version of the silo.

Next up is the colourway that is expected to play second fiddle to the Bright Blue edition when the boot is released. Even though it may not be taking the limelight, the Black/Green/Infared D5 is still a very pretty boot. Reminiscent of the Black/Green/White AdiZero, it’s very easy to pick the synthetic upper in this photo. The upper seems very shiny and the light bounces off the boot. Adidas believe this upper will aid ball control, but the decision to completely drop Kangaroo Leather from their 4 boot silos will be an unpopular one.

While we’re pretty sure of the release date of the first two boots, this one is a bit of a mystery to us. Even though we know that they aren’t the top of the range versions of the D5, we know the Black/Yellow colourway will be featured at a later date. While the top of the range versions of the D5 feature a synthetic leather upper, it seems the Absolado version feature a leather upper. Even though they won’t be high quality leather, it seems to be a combination of leather and synthetic, a bit like Kanga Lite used by Nike. While we’re just working off assumptions here, it might be a decent decision by Adidas if it’s true. However, as these are the UCL editions of the D5, perhaps our July/August estimate is pretty accurate.

Two tone colourways haven’t featured too much in the past, with the Black/White/Retro and Blue/White/Black CTR360 Maestris. However Adidas might be trying to start a new trend with this White/Black/Orange edition. And to be fair, it doesn’t look too bad either. These will be released with the Black/Yellow colourway above. We’ll take a stab and say these will be released in time for the start of next season, so around July or so.

Finally, you might notice these boots take the name of Predator boots (ie Absolado, Predito). This is because we can confirm these will become the new Predator boot. So this is arguably the Predator XII, while the AdiPower might start to shed some of it’s Predator characteristics. As this is going to be endorsed into the Predator range, the traditional Predator Red/Black/White will almost certainly be seen on the new Predator D5. Plus, as this will be a control boot, we are about 75% certain that Xavi Hernandez will become the face of the new range.

The Predator D5 has now been given it’s debut on Soccer Reviews. Now it’s over to you guys. What do you think about the new range from Adidas?