We love a boot-swapping scandal here at Footy-Boots.com. There’s nothing better than catching a player in the act when they’re trying out football boots from a rival brand!

Recently, Sergio Aguero has had our attention as the long-time Nike key athlete has been trying out adidas’ classic adidas adiPure football boots – but he’s not the only player to have changed brands.

With a little help from all out Facebook fans, we’ve put together a lit of some of the most memorable boot-swapping players. If you’ve got one we missed, add it to the comments below!

Lionel Messi – Nike Mercurial Vapor to adidas F50 adiZero football boots

Easily the one that got the biggest reaction when we posted it on our Facebook page was this startling site; adidas golden bot Lionel Messi in Nike ad!

Back in the day of the Mercurial Vapor III the diminutive Argentine wasn’t quite the best player in the world, but Nike had faith in the Barca player, who was then snapped up by adidas!

Zlatan Ibrahimovic – Puma King to Nike Mercurial Vapor football boots

We actually didn’t know about this one, so thanks to Ricky M on Facebook for submitting this one!

When the tricky Swede started out at Ajax in 2001-2002, he actually opted to wear the Puma King (though it is worth noting he was a Nike man for most of his time at Swedish club Malmo FF). Zlatan signed up with Nike to wear their then-brand new Mercurial Vapor range later that season, and have been inseparable ever since!

Thierry Henry – Nike Mercurial Vapor to Reebok Sprintfit football boots

Nowadays, we all know Thierry Henry as the biggest gun in the dwindling Reebok arsenal – but when the Arsenal Legend switched from Nike in 2006, it nearly blew the Footy-Boots.com servers up!

After years as being the definitive Mercurial player, the flying Frenchman did a U-Turn on his trusty Vapors and jumped ship to Reebok – thanks for reminding us of this one, Darren J.G!
Andres Iniesta – Mizuno Morelia to Nike Laser football boots

We’re going way back for this one! In his days at Barcelona’s legendary La Masia academy, a young Andres Iniesta could be seen sliding through-balls and lofting crosses off of his classic Mizuno Morelia.

After making his way into the first team, the World Cup winner was quickly snapped up by Nike, who saw his unmatched accuracy represented the new T90 series to a tee.
Dani Alves – Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly – adidas F50 adiZero football boots

Gigi was the first to bring this one up on Facebook when the rest of us had tried so hard to forget about it!

Flying full-back Dani Alves spent months chopping, changing and blacking out his football boots – seemingly forever undecided between his long-loved Superfly and the new adiZero!

Eventually, after the season’s first El Clasico, the Barca defender put pen-to-paper for adidas, wearing the adiZero and even appearing in adidas’ Copa Del Rey final advert!
Nicolas Anelka – Puma v1.10 to adidas F50 adiZero football boots

Journeyman striker Anelka has always been a big Puma man, sticking with the German brand even when he couldn’t stick with a club.

Which is why it was such a shock to see the French forward ditch them after the World Cup last year. Starting his pre-season in the adiZero, Anelka left Puma to begin the 2010-11 season without their biggest marketable personality in English football.

Nani – Nike Mercurial Vapor to adidas F50 adiZero football boots

Another one of this year’s most talked-about boot swaps was Nani ditching the Nike Mercurial Vapor, and Ali Adams clearly remembers this one fondly.

The pacy winger was one of the few players to endorse the Vapor over the Superfly, which made his switch to the adiZero even more understandable – the lack of FlyWire and Carbon Fibre were clearly something that was never going to bother the Portuguese International as he quickly put pen to paper with adidas.

David Beckham – Asics Testimonial to adidas Predator football boots

Hard to believe that Brand Beckham could ever have been associated with anything other than adidas, but here’s the proof!

Seen here on loan with Preston North End (where he famously scored form a corner kick!), Becks used to prefer the classic feel of the Asics Testimonial range whilst in Sir Alex’s Academy.

After a brief stint hawking Cica Blades, Beckham was quickly snapped up by adidas to wear the Predator, and has arguably since become one of the greatest endorsers of anything. Ever.