For a footballer to break out of the game-centric circles and bewitch the public consciousness, they’ve got to be more than just a baller. They could be aggressively good looking and dating a pop star (see: how David Beckham rose to fame) or wholesome beyond belief, like Bukayo Saka, or have a celebration so iconic that it’s still a point of reference almost 20 years on, like Peter Crouch.
Playing good football alone is not enough, because why would a non-football enjoyer care about converted penalties or a player’s heat map tracking?
