Nike Merlin is the official Serie A ball for the 2018-2019 season. It’s always fun and entertaining to watch technology competitions, isn’t it? In the late 2010s, Adidas and Nike had a serious ball development competition. The Adidas engineers focused on the perfect shape of the panels, while the Nike engineers decided to create the most round, top-tier balls ever.
As a result, we see an unprecedented product – this ball consists of only four panels! These parts are connected by heat sealing. The use of a 3D printer when drawing patterns on the ball improves the aerodynamics and the level of ball control in all weather conditions. By the way, you can see another innovation for rainy weather matches. The outer layer of the panels of this ball has a special texture in the form of rounded protrusions.
When it comes to design, there is a lot of cool stuff here. For example, this is a direct continuation of the design of previous Nike models. You can easily match similarities such as white backgrounds and large dark borders that line up with the outlines of the panels.