Amidst the Saudi Pro League’s PIF-sponsored chase of elite players aged 28 and above, it’s newly promoted Premier League side Burnley that has appeared to have truly mastered the art of unveiling a new signing, thanks to a series of low-fi videos that have gone viral.
Managed by former Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany, the Lancashire club bounced back to the Premier League at the first time of asking last season, topping the Championship table with a whopping 101 points.
But while Kompany’s team—which features Moroccan winger Anass Zaroury—played a faultless season on the pitch, the social media team didn’t do too bad either, launching a series of new signing videos that took moments of popular culture and, in the most low-fi way possible, added their new signing to them. About as far away as it’s possible to get from a glossy high production video, the tactic has worked, with the videos being watched millions of times.
Here are five videos that we think have changed the way football clubs will now think about announcing a new player to the world.
The Backstreet Boys x Nathan Redmond
The hardworking winger signed from Southampton on a two-year contract with the Clarets, ably assisted by an iconic clip from Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Wazzup advert x Dara O’Shea
Burnley’s social team at the peak of their powers, taking the viral ‘Wazzaup’ clip to announce the signing of the republic of Ireland defender O’Shea, and sending it viral all over again.
The Generation Game x Nathan Tella
A very British reveal of Nathan Tella on loan from Southampton, featuring the game show from the 1970s and 80s. We still don’t understand the reasoning behind it, but one Twitter fan labelled it “the most valuable 48 seconds of my life.”
Shrek x Lyle Foster
Another Hollywood remake from the team at Turf Moor, this time announcing South African striker Lyle Foster. As the enchanted mirror offers three players to sign in January (Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Foster) Lord Farquuard chooses Foster. Although after just one goal in 11 games since, he might be regretting that decision.
Teletubbies x Zeki Amdouni
Leaving the best—and most bizarre—to last, Burnley decided to announce the signing of the Swiss international from FC Basel by way of BAFTA-winning children’s TV show, Teletubbies. As far as we can tell, this was for no other reason than the way he says “hello” at the end of the video. Take a look and see if you can work it out.