Ranking Manchester United Players in Social Follower Growth in 16/17 Season

Manchester United are a big deal on social media. Now, while their fans care much more about silverware than social shares, the club itself has a vested interest in building its following.

Managing director Richard Arnold, speaking at the Web Summit 2016 in Lisbon, Portugal, in November 2016 said, per the Daily Mail:

"The level we are engaging at, to put it in context, is akin to religion. John Lennon was famously quoted as saying The Beatles were 'bigger than Jesus'.

"Whilst we wouldn't want to be disrespectful in that way, what you are seeing from a measurement point of view is that the level of engagement and fervour we get is on par with the world's major religions and those are the only things at the same level as Manchester United in terms of that interaction and engagement."

Now, potentially tasteless analogies aside, it clearly shows that the club are thinking about this stuff.

And not just in a "hey, let's all get likes and shares, guys!" kind of a way, but also in a more critical sense, at least when it comes to the actions of the players. Manchester Evening News' Samuel Luckhurst reported in March that "Jose Mourinho has reiterated to his Manchester United players not to use social media in the buildup to matches."

Whether that reporting was correct or not, there was still plenty of social activity from the squad.

So, with these things clearly being of some importance in 21st century football, which of United's stars enjoyed the biggest boost to their following across the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in 2016/17?

[Incidentally, the award for the best use of social media by anyone with a connection to Manchester United has been indefinitely awarded to Patrice Evra.]

Wayne Rooney: 10.5 million 

Wayne Rooney's social media presence was once a thing of magical beauty. No one who was there at the beginning will ever forget how it started, back when his Twitter handle was WazzaRoon08.

He made it clear how he felt about United, Everton and...well, the Beatles and later Whitney Houston.

Something changed somewhere down the line and it got sanitised, as Corporate Wayne Rooney took over from WazzaRoon08. His Instagram account is a collection of training shots, sponsor-related material and family photos. Nonetheless, he is still growing in Internet popularity even as his footballing prowess wanes.

David De Gea: 11.6 million

The latest rumours suggest David De Gea remains happy to stay at United this summer, per Jamie Jackson of The Guardian. 

The 'keeper thus does not have to worry about a mass unfollowing by United fans—though he would probably pick up a few new ones if he moved to Real Madrid.

De Gea's best social media moment came back in 2015, when he realised with fury that the Eurovision song contest in which his partner Edurne was representing Spain might have a political dimension to it. He really was very annoyed.

His Instagram feed is pretty vanilla these days, with the usual footballers' fare in plentiful supply. There was good banter on Juan Mata's birthday, though. 

Red, or at least the goalkeeping jersey equivalent suits you better too, David.

Juan Mata: 15.2 million

Now we come on to the thinking fans' favourite footballing follow. Mata's social media output is not like the other lads. I mean, it is sometimes—gym shots, shots of team-mates he wants to congratulate, all that kind of malarkey. But in addition to a weekly blog (which, if we are all honest with ourselves, we can admit is sweet but a bit dull), Juan likes to use social media to get his art on.

While other footballers are sharing shots of the beach in Dubai as their post-season breaks start, Mata has other ideas.

With a globe emoji as its only caption, this picture really does paint 1,000 words. The road stretches out ahead but not straight ahead. No, this bends off screen, out of the frame of the picture, its ending as unknowable as the future itself. We all travel along this road in the crazy world of ours, Mata seems to be saying, and while there are dark, cloudy skies ahead, glimpses of brightness on the horizon carry us ever forward.

Something like that, anyway. No wonder he keeps picking up more followers.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic 18.9 million

United might have cause to feel pretty big-headed about this. Zlatan Ibrahimovic's massive social follower growth during his one season at Old Trafford shows just how big a deal the Red Devils are in this sphere. After all, Ibrahimovic has been a global footballing icon for a decade, but rocking up in Manchester still sent his follower count rocketing.

And to be fair, Zlatan's 'Gram game is above average. 

He plays around with his image with tongue, presumably, at least partially in cheek, happy to share memes of himself that propagate the notion of Ibrahimovic as superhero. 

He also has a pretty great dog.

Good work, Zlatan.

Paul Pogba 23.3 million 

Unsurprisingly, Paul Pogba has been the biggest story in United social media this season. Last summer's signing was one of the reasons Arnold was able to brag about United's engagement rates, with #Pogback doing gangbusters in terms of numbers.

With great social media power comes great social media responsibility, and it is one that Pogba clearly takes seriously. He is here to entertain. From using a meerkat filter to wish Antoine Griezmann a happy birthday to sharing powerful images of his recent pilgrimage to Mecca, with plenty of football thrown in, Pogba is prepared to share many aspects of his life with his fans. 

There are too many highlights to choose from, but this rather touching image of him and his elder brother Florentin ahead of their meeting in the Europa League seemed a fitting one to end on.

United fans will be hoping Pogba continues to attract plenty of attention thanks to his football next season.

All social follower data courtesy of Brandtix.