Cristiano Ronaldo’s annual summer visit to China is coming soon and ahead of his arrival Nike have announced his annual China-only limited edition football boot.
The C7 Mercurial Superfly “Shuai” boots are named after the Chinese character for handsome, something Ronaldo has been called on his many visits to the mainland.
In 2017, on his first tour with Nike, he was even handed a T-shirt with his name and the simplified character for shuai.
Unlike last summer, Ronaldo will be in action during this visit when his Juventus side meet Serie A rivals Inter Milan in Nanjing on July 24.
The game, which will be the side’s first under new coach Maurizio Sarri, will take place at the Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre.
The graphic print on the boots reads tong shuai in simplified characters or “stylish commander” and the heel features the Chinese version of the “CR7” logo. That features the luo character because Ronaldo is known as “C Luo” in China.
Last year, Ronaldo’s visit included a visit to Chinese Super League goalkeeper Wang Dalei’s Beijing sneaker store for an interview with Complex magazine, his first since swapping Real Madrid for Juventus. Ronaldo spent US$3,413 on seven pairs of sneakers.
His trip was also notable for cutting short an interview with Chinese video portal Youku.
It was reported that the popularity of Juventus among Chinese fans skyrocketed after Ronaldo joined the club. The 34-year-old also returned to the top of the rankings for China’s most popular player on social media, according to this year’ Red Card Report.
While Ronaldo is happy to visit China as part of his summer, his agent revealed that he turned down an offer to play in the Chinese Super League in 2016. The deal would have been worth US$100 million per year to the Portugal captain, his agent said.
The boots are not yet released via the Nike China website but previous editions sold out almost immediately.
Soccer Bible have reported that, unlike previous releases, a number of pairs of this year’s edition will be on sale worldwide. They are reported to be priced at US$300.
