Erling Haaland: Kieran Maguire shares ‘huge’ claim as Man City land £341m
Erling Haaland is starting to repay his own transfer fee through Man City shirt sales alone
Erling Haaland has been ‘transformative’ to the commercial success at Man City as his shirt sales are helping the club to grow a global fanbase.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about City’s growing fanbase in the United States.
As per The Athletic, City were ‘the most popular team in the United States’ last season in terms of viewing figures.
Pep Guardiola’s side wrote their name in the history books by winning the treble, and their success has started to help the club grow a worldwide fanbase.
City are set to travel to the United States in the summer on their pre-season tour where the club will look to further grow their popularity and commercial success.
City posted record-breaking revenue of £712million in their 2022-23 accounts – £341million of which was commercial revenue.
Maguire believes Haaland is a crucial part of City’s success due to his global appeal and shirt sales.
“It does take a long time to generate the level of noise required for people to want to support a club,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“Manchester City is not a new club, but they are new to the level of success that they are experiencing.
“That level of success now has to be maintained and I think it helps that City have people associated with the club that are very personable.
“Guardiola, Haaland, Grealish and so on – combined with the way that social media operates these days – City are in a position to become a significant force when it comes to support in the US and other markets.
“I’m just back from Thailand myself and what did strike me was the number of Haaland shirts where you’re used to seeing Ronaldo, Messi, Rashford and Salah.
“In terms of shirt sales and Haaland, he has been huge and transformative for City’s commercial value as he’s entertaining both on and off the pitch.“
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