When Pies’ were nine years old, we were far too busy racing our penny farthings and playing hoop-and-stick in the streets to worry about signing endorsement deals with global sportswear conglomerates.
Alas, times have changed, and now we live in a world where Patrick Kluivert’s nine-year-old son Shane has a lucrative sponsorship deal with Nike which he announced himself via his very own verified Instagram account…
Shane has been swept up by Nike’s ‘talent identification department’ after making a name for himself starring in the PSG academy side, despite his father leaving his directorial position at the Ligue 1 club under something of a cloud a month or so ago.
His social media output, while likely published by someone else, already has that odd, banal tone redolent of his senior professional counterparts…
Shackled by corporate micro-management before his 10th birthday.
Modern football really is weird, and a little bit creepy.