Nailed on to adorn bedroom walls from Buenos Aires to Barcelona and be splashed across billboards the world over. Lionel Messi's arrival at Inter Miami was about as sure a marketing hit as you could ask for. Social media accounts spiked, shirts sold out, match tickets went for stupid money.
But new followers hadn't just come for the Herons. "A lot of people are walking around cities and towns in the UK and Europe wearing that flamingo pink of Inter Miami with zero affiliation to Miami, having never been there," explains sports brand strategist James Kirkham. "It's quite a normal thing now.
But it is the player who has done the job." That football lovers should want to show a connection with arguably the greatest player of all time comes as no surprise - likewise his long-term rival in the now-distinct yellow of Al-Nassr. Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. Barcelona or Real Madrid.
These generational superstars have long stirred heated debate, from curious kids with jumpers for goalposts to social media cultists armed with memes and virtual binders of blistering stats. But this trend of following individual players transcends merely Messi and Ronaldo. "It's been happening for a while, ever since the sheer impact and influence of gaming, particularly on young fans," says Kirkham, who remembers a swell of support for Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Kirkham says younger fans are actually "less rigid or tribal than they used to be" and boast a "more encyclopaedic knowledge" developed through video games - including EA Sports FC or Football Manager. Other touch points come via YouTube and trading cards. They follow teams from different countries or leagues not for the badge on the front, but because of the name on the back.
"Fans play as these players in games," says Kirkham. "So there is a really thin line between virtual and real life. "Following a player and buying them as part of your Ultimate Team and then wearing that player's name on the back of your shirt, be that Atletico Madrid or Chelsea or Dortmund, kind of makes no difference." To paraphrase Eric Cantona, you can change most things in life but never your football team.
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