Colour clash: Malouda’s white and yellow (left) and Ibrahimovic’s red (right)
Manchester United and Sunderland have banned their young players from wearing outlandish coloured boots and made them wear traditional black instead.
With superstars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney used to promote models in every colour of the rainbow, a new study reveals that the humble black boot is in danger of dying out.
But Sunderland boss Steve Bruce says young players should earn the right to wear coloured boots, and supports the policy adopted by his club's academy directors, Ged McNamee and Kevin Ball, which insists parents buy only black.
Bruce's views are echoed by Sir Alex Ferguson at United, where academy graduates are given black Nike boots with studs and no blades. Middlesbrough have a similar arrangement with adidas and Everton also apply a black boots policy at their academy.
Bruce said: 'It's like sweets in a shop. The brighter the boots, the more kids want them, but let's face it, coloured boots are just a gimmick. They do not make anyone play any better, nor any worse.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1377003/As-flashy-footwear-threatens-kill-traditional-black--clubs-colour-boot.html?ITO=1490
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