Yep, not even the beautiful game can escape the non-fungible frenzy.
Football journalists, owners and directors have become stars in their own right to modern fans obsessed with structure and status. Now, transfers have become a new sport that feels separate to football itself.
Is it football as content? A strain to inject some reason into the international down period between competitions people actually like? However it got here, the vibe is no longer good.
As the gifted footballer – the game’s first real influencer – leaves Manchester United as a free agent, we look back at his troubled spell in the club.
WAGs still exist, sure. But no one’s doing it like the noughties OGs anymore.
Editor Matthew Whitehouse on THE FACE cover stars Jack Grealish, Tems, Beabadoobee, and the ecstasy of fandom.
