Over the years, fame has become more important for footballers to achieve success on and off the pitch. Not only can a media profile increase earnings, but it can also impact a player’s contract value, and endorsement opportunities and open doors for second careers.
In the past, legendary players like George Best and David Beckham used to rely on publicity stunts such as magazine covers and starring in TV commercials. However, social media has now become a prominent factor in boosting celebrity status. And while superstardom was previously reserved for the most-skilled footballers, it’s now down to who is best at playing the fame game.
To identify the footballers with the biggest online presence, we analysed the social media accounts of popular footballers currently playing for British teams. Compiling the follower count across Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok, YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, and Snapchat, we have revealed the 10 footballers who are the most successful influencers!
10) Harry Kane (31,000,000 followers)
Despite being captain of the England team, Harry Kane lands at the bottom of the list, proving that the skills on the pitch aren’t as relevant anymore when it comes to footballer fame. However, 31 million overall followers are nothing to scoff at.
Harry Kane, who also plays for Tottenham Hotspur, has accounts across Twitter, Tik Tok, and Facebook but his biggest audience is on Instagram where he has 14.5 million followers. On Instagram, where his engagement rate is a low 0.50%, Harry’s average earnings per post are reportedly £30,955 ($38,485).
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9) Thiago Silva (31,100,000 followers)
With just 100,000 more followers than Harry Kane, Thiago Silva just makes it to number nine. The Chelsea player has the lowest Twitter following in this list with just 1.3 million. But his most popular account is on Instagram where he has 21.6 million followers alone. With an average engagement rate of 1.21% and 261,679 average likes on Instagram, Thiago’s average earnings per post land at £46,189 ($57,424).
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8) Marcus Rashford (33,300,000 followers)
Marcus Rashford falls at number eight with 33.3 million overall social media followers. However, the Manchester United player has the third-best engagement rate on Instagram (3.67%) and the fifth-highest average Instagram likes (570,372). These figures result in an average paycheck of £33,225 ($41,307) per Instagram post — where he has 15.5 million followers.
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7) Richarlison de Andrade (38,200,000 followers)
While Richarlison de Andrade has the seventh-most overall followers, he is the most popular on Tik Tok out of the top 10 footballers. The Tottenham Hotspur player has 10 million followers and a staggering average of 77.4 million likes on the app. In comparison, Richarlison has 22.1 million followers and an average of 397,280 likes on Instagram — where his average earnings is a predicted £47,298 ($58,803).
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6) Casemiro (42,348,000 followers)
Casemiro is the only footballer on the list using Twitch which makes up 148,000 followers in his overall count of 42.3 million. The Manchester United player is also popular on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
The player’s estimated earnings on Instagram, where he has a 3.04% engagement rate and an average of 639,799 likes, is £44,925 ($55,852) per post.
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5) David de Gea (43,300,000 followers)
Starting the top five is David de Gea who has a follower count of 43.3 million across Twitter, Instagram and his official Facebook page. However, the Manchester United player’s earning potential on Instagram — £32,138 ($39,955) per post — is the second lowest on this list due to having a modest 1.49% engagement rating and 223,386 average likes.
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4) Raphaël Varane (44,100,000 followers)
The Manchester United footballer is most popular on his Instagram account (in which he has 21.6 million followers) but along with Twitter and Facebook, the player has an overall follower count of 44.1 million.
On his most successful platform, Raphaël Varane has estimated earnings of £46,164 ($57,393) per Instagram post, with an average of 282,655 likes.
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3) Erling Haaland (49,300,000 followers)
The Manchester City player has the third most overall followers with an official Facebook page and Twitter and Instagram accounts. However, on Instagram, Erling Haaland has the second-highest follower count and an engagement rate of 4.31%.
The footballer is also runner-up in having the highest earning potential with a whopping £63,462 ($78,899) per Instagram post.
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2) Kevin De Bruyne (49,400,000 followers)
By a difference of just 100,000, the footballer with the second highest following is Kevin de Bruyne, with nearly 50 million across Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tik Tok.
Findings discovered that Kevin De Bruyne earns £47,034 ($58,474) per Instagram post due to his 4.74% engagement rate (the highest on the list), an average of 1 million likes, and 21.9 million followers on the platform.
The Manchester City player also has the most Facebook followers, with 17 million on his official page.
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1) Mohamed Salah (93,600,000 followers)
With more than 93 million followers across just three platforms, Mohamed Salah has by far the biggest following out of the players analysed! The Liverpool FC player’s official Facebook page has 16 million followers, and on Twitter, the footballer has 18.2 million followers. However, with around 60 million followers and an average of 1 million likes, Mohamed is undoubtedly the most popular on Instagram.
Although the star player has an engagement rate of just 1.75%, it’s predicted he earns a whopping (£126,786) $157,625 per Instagram post.
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Honourable mentions
While no women footballers' follower counts reached the top 10, the female player with the largest online audience was Fran Kirby. The Chelsea player has 1.7 million followers across Twitter, Instagram and her official Facebook page.
Although he didn’t make it into the top 10, Jesse Lingard is the most active social media user out of the footballers analysed. The Nottingham Forest player currently has six different accounts across Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat, amounting to 24.7 million followers in total.
For footballers to become celebrity superstars, having a social media presence is now crucial — with Twitter and Instagram seemingly being the most prevalent. Arguably, social media is now more important than the traditional PR methods used previously by the likes of David Beckham. However, only time will tell whether the footballers on this list will create as big a legacy.
Header image: Jeanpierrekepseu, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Methodology
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1auVs7c5z0F_QhJLVmV66G56StwI5-x7Nu7B0VGDIMtI/edit?usp=sharing
