Nike Mercurial Superfly 7 Elite Turf 'Laser Orange'
Colorway: Laser Orange/White/Laser Orange/Black · Style code: AT7981-801 · Release date: August 10, 2020 · Price: $299 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Nike Mercurial SuperflyX 7 Elite TF 'New Lights' (AT7981-414) · Nike Mercurial Superfly 7 Academy IC 'Bred' (AT7975-060) · Nike Mercurial Superfly 7 Club MG 'Black' (AT7949-010) · Nike Mercurial Superfly 7 Elite FG 'Korea' (CW4846-160) · Nike Mercurial Superfly 7 Pro FG 'Bred' (AT5382-060)
Nike built the Mercurial for one thing and has never pretended otherwise. The line arrived with a boot made for Ronaldo at the 1998 World Cup, stripped of the padding and leather football boots had carried for decades, on the argument that a forward playing on the shoulder of the last defender needs the boot to weigh nothing and to grip when he turns.
The line later split. Vapor is the low-cut branch; Superfly adds the knitted Dynamic Fit collar that runs up past the ankle, blurring where the boot ends and the sock begins. Elite designates the top tier of either: the version with the carbon plate and the construction sponsored professionals actually wear, as opposed to the cheaper takedowns built on the same last.
Turf models change what happens underneath. Instead of moulded studs meant to penetrate grass, the plate carries a dense field of short rubber nubs that spread load across artificial surfaces, where a conventional stud would catch. This one is finished in laser orange, a colour the line returns to whenever it wants to be seen from the stands.