Adidas Unveils Groundbreaking Laceless Cleats

Adidas has released its first laceless soccer cleat, the Ace16+ Purecontrol. The German athletic brand announced last year that the cleats were coming, and formally launched the style on Monday. A limited number of pairs are available on the Adidas website and at soccer.com.

Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil and FC Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic will start wearing the cleats on Jan. 23. German native Ozil was helped develop the cleats, which are designed to eliminate the impact of laces on striking and ball control.

Ozil says he told Adidas in 2014 that his tactic was to knot his laces over and over and tuck in the ends.

“When they came to me last year with the laceless boots, it was like they have created my dream product,” Ozil said. “I cannot wait to wear them on the pitch.”

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The brand says the Ace 16+ Purecontrol cleats have several ways of securing the wearer’s foot. There’s a TPU cage to hold the midfoot, a knitted upper and an internal knitted Techfit system, plus Primeknit technology.

Sam Hand, Adidas’ vice president of design for soccer, said the brand worked with top designers to create this cleat.

“Laceless is the future of football and a hallmark of Adidas as a brand — a leader in innovation and design,” Hand said. “Most importantly, it will allow our players to control the game better than ever before.”

Chew on this. ACE16+ Purecontrol has arrived. No laces necessary. #ACE16 #BeTheDifference https://t.co/i2wPijJqnF

— adidas Soccer (@adidassoccer) January 18, 2016

In other Adidas news, the brand announced over the weekend its new CEO, Kasper Rorsted, who is replacing Herbert Hainer starting in August.

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