Why Kylian Mbappé will not immediately wear On’s ‘perfect shoe’

Kylian Mbappé is not expected to immediately display the future “perfect shoe” of his new equipment supplier, On. On Friday at 8.45pm, for Turkey-France in the Nations League, the forward could wear neutral boots if he has recovered from the flu virus that caused him to miss training on Tuesday.

A few days after his change of equipment supplier was made official, Mbappé had already worn white, neutral boots in Atlético-Real Madrid (2-1), after covering the Nike swoosh. It is an approach he could repeat with France.

In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, as part of his media campaign for the Ballon d'Or, the player discussed his move from Nike to On, which was confirmed the previous week. After 20 years with Nike, the Real Madrid star joined the Swiss equipment supplier.

Mbappé has already been seen wearing a prototype in training, but the timing of his first appearance in the official equipment remains uncertain. David Allemann, the founder of On, said: “We plan to enter the market in 2027.” He added that the brand was continuing final prototyping and that a glimpse could come “at some point”.

According to the executive, the project is designed to innovate by creating a boot as close as possible to the foot: a robotic arm could work on every pixel in three minutes to reinforce certain areas, provide flexibility in others and reduce the distance between foot and ball to a minimum. Mbappé said he was delighted to be involved in designing the boot, which he wants to feel like “a second skin”.

The 2018 world champion described the move as “a new chapter, a new challenge, a new opportunity”, saying he was “really delighted with the current situation”. He also explained that he wanted change and development, as a person as well as a player, to begin a journey aimed at building his legacy. In the same interview, a “Before, I would have answered no, but…” also suggested that he can now see himself reaching a very high number of goals with France.

For the national team, David Allemann suggested that Mbappé could repeat the neutral-boots approach. The first appearance of official On equipment therefore remains to be determined.