New Balance and Crystal Palace forward Eberechi Eze has collaborated on a customized boot. The first appearance for the Englishman’s customized cleat was an away trip to Leeds United. Naturally, Eze scored in that game. He celebrated by popping that boot off and showing it off in the middle of a Premier League game.

To be fair, it is worth a look. Eze designed the boot with memories of Greenwich, England, in mind. Home to the royal observatory, Greenwich housed Eze during his development as a player. Therefore, the boots have constellations and stars on them. Plus, the name of the boots is fitting of the celestial theme of the shoe.

“It was quite important for me to have certain things on there,” Eze told World Soccer Talk. “It was a fun process. Obviously, having your own boot is an amazing thing for someone like me, coming from where I come from. I’m hugely grateful and hugely blessed to even be in that position.”

The New Balance ‘Starraiser,’ which is a redesign of the Furon v7, made its debut against Leeds United, where fans got their first glimpse of the boot. Eze scored the third of Crystal Palace’s five goals in a rout at Elland Road. The celebration showed off his New Balance boot.

A first customized boot for Eberechi Eze

While it is a unique opportunity to get a customized boot from a producer, Eberechi Eze considers it more a blessing than it is a necessary upgrade to his game.

“I’m more on the side of it is a huge blessing to be in this position, because not everybody gets to have their own boots,” Eze said. “It is huge for me to be in this situation. I see it as a big deal. I see it as something that is powerful and meaningful. It is also another way of sharing my story.”

Eze’s story is still growing, of course. He is just 24 years old, but he continues to be a regular starter at Selhurst Park, regardless of the manager at the head of the club. Despite the goal at Leeds, though, Eze’s output is not as high as it could be.

“What I try to do is focus on my game, focus on improving and being the best version of myself on the pitch and off the pitch. Wherever that takes me, that takes me.”

Specifically, Eze marks tactics and raw game understanding as the biggest ways he can improve his potential-laden product.

“I would say my game understanding and tactical understanding. I want to learn as much as I can about the game. How to affect the game in ways that I haven’t before. You only get that by diving deeper and watching analysis and seeing these types of things.”

The future of Eze’s career

Eze has been on the verge of national team call ups. In fact, England had Eze on the provisional squad for England at Euro 2020. However, the forward picked up an injury on the same day that provisional squad came out.

“I think as you go along your journey, there are milestones and moments that you realize, maybe not at the time, how big they were. I have had moments that I can look back on and say that I am grateful to achieve them.”

With so much opportunity still to come for the young Eze, he sees more of these milestones in his career, both at club and international level.

“For sure, I’ve got many more that I hope to achieve and hope to one day reach. Again, that comes with the application every day. The dedication to the job and the sport, that’s the aim for me.”

Getting a customized boot can go a long way for Eberechi Eze, both in terms of confidence and brand exposure. His boot is on sale via New Balance now.

PHOTO: IMAGO / PA Images