The Croatia international will showcase a ground-breaking new adidas boot when the European champions face Malaga on Saturday - a design which could change the way we kick a ball
Laces have always had an effect on how players pass and shoot. The presence of an additional and variable barrier between foot and ball can make it difficult to fine-control the power and accuracy of a shot or pass.
But not any more, with adidas launching the new Ace16+ Purecontrol boot this week, a boot which all but negates the impact of laces - by removing them altogether.
"These boots are really comfortable - adidas have done it!" Barcelona and Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitic, who will wear the Ace16+ Purecontrol from January 23, told Goal.
"Comfort is the most important thing for me. I like to wear the same pair of boots until they're broken but these are already really comfortable and I'll wear them until they get really old.
"I use the same boots for games and training - except if I have bad luck for three or four matches..."
An unlucky streak seems unlikely for Rakitic these days, with Barcelona having won five titles since he joined from Sevilla last season.
Rakitic puts this success down to the club retaining a familial atmosphere alongside a competition for places. That competition will intensify now that Arda Turan is eligible to play for the club, having signed from Atletico Madrid in the summer but unable to take to the pitch due to the recently expired transfer ban.
“My team-mates always maintain high standards," Rakitic explained. "We are like a family and I like this type of competitiveness. The club, myself and all the players are dependent on each other. Personally I’m really happy with everything and I hope the club and fans are too.
“Last year I played with the best midfield player in history, Xavi, yet I still got the chance to play. Now Arda is here - I knew him before and he is a very good player. It’s more competitive than you’d think possible.”
The new boot has been in development since 2014 with the prototype revealed late in 2015 and the finished version tested in adidas laboratories and at grassroots level in Sweden.
But now they will hit professional pitches, with Rakitic joined by Arsenal star Mesut Ozil in wearing the Ace16+ Purecontrol from this coming weekend.
Fitness and selection permitting, Rakitic should showcase the new boot when Barcelona visit Malaga in La Liga on Saturday evening; Ozil comes up against Chelsea the following day.
“My whole career I have tried to minimise the impact of laces on my strike and ball control,” explained Germany midfielder Ozil.
“In the changing room I knot the laces over and over again and then tuck in the ends, that way they do not interfere with my touch.
“When they came to me last year with the laceless boots, it was like they had created my dream product. I cannot wait to wear them on the pitch.”
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