JUDE BELLINGHAM helped create the 30th anniversary edition of the iconic adidas Predator boots – and brought back a popular piece of nostalgia.
Now the chief designer wants to see him take England to Euro 2024 glory in the summer.
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Bellingham, 20, has been with adidas since his breakthrough at Birmingham and is now strutting his stuff on the grandest stage of all at Real Madrid’s Bernabeu.
And he played his part in producing the latest iteration of the famous Predator – which first hit pitches and shops in 1994 – to make sure it was exactly to his liking and requirements.
Sam Handy, head of product for adidas football, told SunSport: “We work very closely with an amazing group of pro players who are involved in the feedback from early testing prototypes and adjustments.
“We worked with Jude on this Predator and heard his first reactions when we got the boot in front of him.
“He has been a key part of our development of the boot from a performance perspective.
“We are working closely with him for future generations, follow-up colourways where we build special editions for Jude based directly on his input. He is very integrated into our creation process. He is a dear partner of the brand.”
The new Predator 24, launched today after a two-and-a-half-year process, comes in the traditional black, white and red colour scheme but with a fluorescent yellow touch to help the boots stand out on TV.
And it also sees the return of the old-school foldover tongue for the first time since 2002 – with Bellingham and new adidas signing Trent Alexander-Arnold enjoying early access.
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Handy added: “In theory, the tongue is an archive detail but the feedback from so many players was, ‘Please bring back the foldover tongue.’ It’s a super iconic detail.
“It works. It delivers ball control. Gen Z pro players are asking for the tongue for performance reasons and twinned with the nostalgia it was too hard to resist the temptation for Predator 24.
“This is the best Predator ever built in 30 years – as you can tell by the number of players that have so quickly transitioned to it already.
“Normally it takes us a bit of time to get players used to a new boot but in this instance, we’ve been actively trying to stop them coming too early because they all fell in love with it.”
Bellingham has taken the transition to Real Madrid by storm since his £115million transfer from Borussia Dortmund.
His 17 goals in 24 appearances are beyond even what the sensational talent himself could have dreamed of.
He has already racked up 27 senior England caps – scoring at the World Cup when he was just 19 – and his trophy cabinet is already brimming with awards including Bundesliga player of the season, the Kopa Trophy, Golden Boy, DFB-Pokal and now the Supercopa de Espana.
Handy added: “Jude is going to be Jude. Jude is going to be something completely different from other players that we have had throughout our history who have also been very important to us.
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“Looking at what Jude represents to a whole new generation of players and what he has been doing at Real, Jude’s very, very special.
“He’s the perfect Predator player. Predator has always been about goals and Jude is very much about goals. There’s also the swagger, the flair, the confidence, the way you play. He represents that. It’s a joy to watch him play.
“We definitely see lots of people, both players and consumers, looking up to Jude. What he is doing at the moment is very special. He is clearly one of the very, very top players in the world.
“Real Madrid are the biggest club in the world so seeing Jude playing there is absolutely the perfect combination.”
The Predator is one of the best-selling football boots of all time, with 21 different styles over the past 30 years, and remains popular with players from the Premier League to Sunday league.
Zinedine Zidane’s Champions League volley, Paul Gascoigne’s wondergoal against Scotland at Euro 96 and that David Beckham free-kick against Greece were all scored in Preds.
And Handy is desperate to see another special strike in the Predator 24 this year.
He concluded: “If I could magic these things up, it would be Jude scoring the winning goal of Euro 2024 for England with a banging, iconic, Predator free-kick.”
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