For those who follow European soccer, January brings not only a new calendar year, but a new transfer window, where rumors of players changing teams develop quicker than news outlets can publish them. A lot of times, these rumors are nothing more than clickbait or wild speculation based on a tiny nugget of truth. But, Nike, which is typically a fairly reputable company, may have accidentally spilled the beans on what could be one of the biggest transfers in the January soccer transfer market.
On Jan. 1, Nike used Liverpool FC player Philippe Coutinho for an ad to promote apparel. That’s not out of the ordinary. What was out of the ordinary is that it was to promote apparel for FC Barcelona, the club that has been actively seeking Coutinho’s signature since last summer.
The advertisement said “Philippe Coutinho is ready to light up Camp Nou [Barcelona’s stadium,]” according to Reuters.
The ad was deleted shortly after it went up, but enough people saw it to cause speculation. The ripples even made it to Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who sarcastically called it a “top story.”
So, for a company like Nike that endorses athletes across the world and multiple sports, some of which are actively involved in business dealings with their clubs, it’s important to keep some information close to the vest for a little bit. Either they jumped the gun with insider information, or a Nike employee dashed in a bit of false information for the sake of selling apparel. Either way, that’s not great business.
