Baby pictures of football players are the best way to announce new signings

The latest was Hector Bellerin, who was presented by Barcelona with a photo of the footballer as a child, when he played in the youth ranks of the blaugrana team. But he was not the only one. During this summer market window, there have been several players who have returned to the teams where they grew up or that they cheered as children, an opportunity too great not to be exploited for social and non-social communication. From Matteo Pessina, Pierluigi Gollini and Patrick Cutrone, to the international cases of Erling Haaland wearing his father's Manchester City jersey to Thomas Muller's bedroom photo for the renewal of his contract with Bayern Munich. 

Long gone are the years in which Zlatan Ibrahimovic at introductory press conferences made up that he had been a fan since childhood of this or that team, now photos from the first day at the campground or from memberships in youth teams are pulled from the family album. Evidence of an attachment that brings us back to the authentic passion for the sport, even before professionalism, contracts and success, thus bringing new signings closer to the fans.

Indeed, this type of communication, beyond the vintage appeal of analog shots, is most striking in how it manages to intertwine the chaotic novelty of the football market with the club's tradition, creating a circular narrative that embraces everyone who shares the same dream. It is a very common topos in sports mythology, and one that still stands for belonging, loyalty, and identity in the corners. After all, who wouldn't want to play for the team they have always cheered for, or for which they started kicking the ball for the first time, always sweating the same jersey they wore as a child eventually leading them to victory. 

Nostalgia remains one of the pivotal values of football passion, with its positive and negative aspects, and nothing can sum it up like a picture of a footballer as a child wearing an old, overgrown jersey, in an ideal bridge between attachment to the past and a vision of the future. In between often fits life, with all its setbacks and detours. Then, as they say in such cases, loves don't end, they make immense turns and then return, to the delight of the teams' social media managers who can start counting the easiest likes of their careers.