How clubs communicated their new signings on social media

It has been a rather strange football session, like all January sessions, where movements are often limited and clubs wait until the last day of the market to snatch up some bargains. It has been a rather disappointing session in Italy, where the only issue that has held the headlines is the divorce between Zaniolo and Roma, while all the other top clubs have been wading around looking for a few bargains that have not come. The main problem, at least in Serie A, has obviously been the lack of liquidity, something that English teams have not lacked, who have literally raided the best talent around, the Premier invested 720 million in January 2023: a third came from Chelsea's signings. The Blues invested €329 million bringing to Stamford Bridge: Mychajlo Mudryk, Badiashile, Madueke, Malo Gusto, Santos, Fofana, Joao Felix and Enzo Fernandez.

Although these were obviously not the transfers that made the most noise, at the beginning of January this session was literally monopolised by the choice of Cristiano Ronaldo who, after his turbulent termination with Manchester United, decided to pack his bags and head to Saudi Arabia, to go with Al-Nassr Football Club. A transfer that few expected and that has given the Saudi club great popularity, gaining millions and millions of followers on all social platforms. Contrary to expectations, however, the social presentation was not as grand as the one held at Mrsool Park stadium, where the club simply shared photos of the champion's arrival in the city.

In Italy there were perhaps two movements worthy of note, two signings that confirm the bad financial period the teams are going through, given the identity cards of the two protagonists, Radja Nainggolan and Mauro Zarate. The former has been bought by SPAL where he will meet his friend and coach Daniele De Rossi, and the latter has unexpectedly terminated his contract to go and play for Cosenza. Of the two, however, only the Ninja has been given a relevant social presentation, taking inspiration from the nickname of the Belgian player and one of the most famous games ever developed for the Iphone, Fruit Ninja. Another major presentation is that of Haaps, who has moved from Venezia to Genoa. The Rossoblu club decided to play with his name, giving the new full-back a presentation in the style of UP!, the Disney film, with a reference to his poster with balloons.

Chelsea, as mentioned, is the team that has had to burst its creative bubble the most, finding an equal presentation but still living up to the sums spent on each of its new talents. The Blues opted for shoots in a London pub, where each player smilingly showed off his new jersey with of course the newly chosen number on display. Only Mychajlo Mudryk decided to exaggerate by creating hype for his arrival, given also the 100 million invested, by posting videos of goals and plays made at Shakhtar Donetsk. But Chelsea was not the only club to make a move in the market, Arsenal used their new stadium murals as a background for new players, such as Jorginho. The prettiest set, on the other hand, was made by Nottingham Forrest who used a simple chair adorned, however, with the colours and flags used by the fans. Somewhat disappointing were the presentations of Manchester United and Liverpool, who shared a simple photo of their new signings at the stadium. But the prize for the best presentation rightly goes to Burnley, who dubbed a famous scene from Shreck and used the sympathy of Lord Farquaad to present their new signing Lyle Foster. In second place, however, is without doubt Wolverhampton who, in order to make Joao Gomes official, launched a hashtag (#freeJoaoGomes) that has gone viral, a sort of mockery of Lyon, guilty of fierce competition with the English club. 

Last but not least, San Lorenzo surprised everyone. The Argentine team also used one of the most famous films of the scene, Pulp Fiction, to present Carlos Sanchez. The club exploited the similarity of the hairstyle between the new signing and Samuel Jackson as Jules Winnfield. A choice that also convinced Sanchez, who immediately reposted his new team's social initiative.

In spite of the lack of budget, creativity, fortunately, was not lacking at the clubs, who decided to go wild and make this flat month of January more lively. Initiatives that are obviously only possible at two times of the year and that we will have to wait a few more months to see again, while also waiting for the Italian clubs to return to making more important purchases. Indeed, it is impossible not to mention the social presentations made until a few years ago by Inter, whose media lab has perhaps produced some of the most iconic videos such as those of Lukaku, Dzeko and many others.