From Jack Wilshere to David Beckham: The Top 15 Media-Savvy Footballers

Footballers are constantly in the public eye, and some deal with this exposure better than others.  The current mass appeal for footballers on Twitter has seen the rise of a new and dangerous animal: the media-savvy footballer.

Here's a look at the 15 players who know how to take advantage of the media better than anyone else in football.

15. Jack Wilshere

Arsenal youngster Jack Wilshere is among the new Twitter breed of footballers.  He has used the site to build up an impressive and loyal following and has shown the world that he is a fun footballer with some character.

Wilshere is always happy to post about dressing room antics and has taken advantage of a gap on the Arsenal market by tweeting about what the Arsenal gang is getting up to.  He is also fan of letting fans ask him questions directly, giving answers straight back, cutting out the middle man.

Wilshere has taken full advantage of the media system and has built himself a big following by giving fans first-hand insight, with a lot of pictures, into the goings-on in the Arsenal camp.

14. Joey Barton

Before the introduction of social media into the mainstream, Joey Barton was widely considered to be an unintelligent Liverpudlian with little social etiquette and a record to prove it.

On his Twitter feed though, Barton has managed to generate quite a following. Barton is quick to tweet about trips to the theatre or art galleries, and has become a connoisseur of meaningful quotes.

Still remembered by some for his antics at Manchester City, where he had several violent episodes, Barton has managed to turn a majority to his side. 

Barton has used Twitter to discuss politics and other important topics, showing that he is intelligent after all. His masterstroke, however, was the way he manufactured a move away from Newcastle.

Somehow, the midfielder managed to get himself a free transfer out of Newcastle with a year still remaining on his contract. All the while, through his use of Twitter, Barton remained fan-friendly. He took advantage of the fact owner Mike Ashley is not well liked on Tyneside, and ensured that the management of the club was blamed for his move to QPR.

13. Vinnie Jones

Vinnie Jones is another player who has worked the media throughout his career, both as a player and now as a movie star.

During his playing days, Jones used the media to help create a hard-man image and to strike fear into the hearts of opponents. Making light of punishments and suspensions Jones quickly became a well-liked and popular tough guy.  His playing days over, Jones has continued to use the system.

Using his hard-man image, Jones took to the movie industry and starred in multiple films as a tough guy, becoming a celebrity in his own right.

12. Jamie Redknapp

Jamie Redknapp saw out the final days of his career in the mid-2000s, just as footballing media was really starting to explode.  When he retired as a result of injury problems, Redknapp turned his attention to the media.

Using his good looks and honesty, Redknapp has made his way to television, featuring as part of match coverage teams and as a regular panellist on quiz shows.  Redknapp has also managed to release his own magazine (although you can't buy it).

That magazine was Redknapp's high point in playing the system.  After taking a look at what he and other footballers read in the dressing room, Redknapp took advantage of a gap in the market by creating a magazine specifically for the super rich.

He might not have played the system much as a player, but Redknapp has become very media savvy in his retirement, and finds himself one of the most sought after faces in advertising, representing several big brands.

11. Cesc Fabregas

If a player really loves a club and wants to stay, then he will, especially when he is an integral part of the first team. 

But when Cesc Fabregas eventually left Arsenal for Barcelona he managed to come out of the whole saga as the innocent party.  Still loved by Arsenal fans despite his desire to move away, Fabregas is a great example of to leave a club honourably. 

Fabregas takes advantage of Twitter, and shows off good relations with former team mates, and makes sure Arsenal fans know how much he loves the club.

The whole saga, drawn out over two summers, did Arsenal a lot of harm. By the time the saga finally came to a close in late August, there were calls for Arsene Wenger to be removed as manager.

Perhaps if the French manager was as media savvy as Fabregas, then he would have been able to tell his side of the story and make Fabregas out as the bad guy.

10. Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney is a player who has had good and bad days with the media.  In recent times though, the Manchester United star and wife, Colleen, have played the system very well.

Through the use of Twitter, Rooney has amassed around 1.8 million followers. They subscribe because his tweets have proved to be surprisingly intelligent and thoughtful.

Rooney has turned himself from a young footballer, one regarded as being unintelligent and thick, to a young man with a decent brain.

His best moves have happened recently. Rooney preempted the moves of the tabloid media by publishing stories and photographs that could have caused a stir if he tried to hide them. This was most notable in the case of his (successful) hair transplant; Rooney took the initiative and posted comments and photos about the transplant before the mainstream press could jump on him.

Rooney has grown up and is now definitely a media-savvy player.

9. Fernando Torres

International breaks are the curse of every Premier League manager.  Not because players are taken away—and risk injury to play in meaningless friendlies and pointless qualifying games against Andorra or San Marino—but because of what happens with the press.

Fernando Torres is a superstar in Spain, and when he returns for international duty every newspaper wants to know how things are going in England. Torres is always happy to tell them.

Torres, who is always careful about what he says during interviews in England, has been known to say a little more when speaking in Spanish. 

Torres seems to know what he is doing (he’s not the only one), but getting in trouble for speaking too candidly seems to happen to him often enough. Most recently, Torres was investigated by Chelsea for comments he made to a Spanish newspaper.  His excuse, as always, his interview was "not translated accurately".

In England, Torres remains a player not known for saying anything to the press. Yet in Spain they love him for his honesty and willingness to discuss the English game. 

It sounds to me like someone is playing the system a little bit.

8. Carlos Tevez

Carlos Tevez, who is not known for making too many positive strides in the media, could be seen as an erroneous entry on the list. The way he is idolised at home in Argentina, though, and the fact that he (with the help of his agent, Kia Joorabchian) is never short of a response to anything negative shows that Tevez is very media savvy.

Most recently, Tevez has been defending himself from claims that he refused to play and suggested he might sue Roberto Mancini for defamation of character. But his real masterpiece was his move away from Manchester United.

Tevez was able to get away from United without coming across as a mercenary, claiming the club were not treating him well.  All that helped him greatly in his move to rivals Manchester City, where he soon found himself a favourite. 

7. Patrice Evra

Patrice Evra is another player who is all too aware of the outlets where he can break controversial stories. Like Torres, Evra takes advantage of being a foreign player in the Premier League and speaks quite a bit to the French press.

Evra displayed how clever he can be with the media when he began making claims about Luis Suarez after a Manchester United vs. Liverpool game.

Evra made the bold, and controversial, claim that Suarez was racially abused. Since he was aware that the English press would jump on the claims and want to know more, the French player spoke to the French press instead.

By making the claims in French, Evra neatly avoided having to deal with the onslaught of British tabloid newspapers. By the time they had translated the interview, Evra was long gone.

It was a very clever move by the Manchester United left-back.

6. Darren Bent

The last two years has seen a massive influx of players using Twitter and becoming more social media savvy, but Darren Bent was one of the first to make his feelings known over Twitter.

Whilst at Tottenham, Bent was keen on a move away from the London club. He felt he was stagnating on the bench and went about securing his move through Twitter.

Bent created a controversy when, through Twitter, he insulted Spurs chairman Daniel Levy over his tactics in the transfer market. In the end, Bent got his move to Sunderland and resurrected his career at Sunderland before moving on to Aston Villa.

A brief spell away from the site took the focus away from Bent. The striker is now back up and running, keeping everyone informed through the social network.

5. Gary Neville

Gary Neville has always been at the forefront of the media in English football, and has played with his heart on his sleeve for Manchester United.

As a player, that attitude made Neville a love-hate character for much of the UK. Since his retirement, though, Neville has turned himself into a popular media personality.

Neville has forged a media career as a pundit and columnist.  And he's managed to do so through brute honesty. Neville took advantage of a gap in the market to come out of the game and transition instantly into the press.  

The release of his book, along with his no-fear approach when it comes to picking out faults in teams  players he is analysing, has turned Neville from a player everyone loved to hate, into a man everyone loves to hear.

4. Robbie Savage

Robbie Savage ended his playing days with Derby County, after making over 600 professional appearances, and has embraced the media world like few of his peers.

Savage was a player most people loved to hate during his playing days. Few would have predicted that he would make such an impact in the media. His constant use of Twitter, including a willingness to publish abuse he is sent, has caused his popularity to rise.

Now a popular pundit and media personality, Savage has been working with the BBC and ESPN. He has already won a prestigious Sony Radio Academy award as a ‘rising star’. 

The man knows how to get around the media. He has played the system to perfection, using his popularity (or lack thereof) to his advantage.

3. Rio Ferdinand

Most footballers who transition into the media careers end up being newspaper columnists and television pundits. A select few make it all the way to presenter (like Gary Lineker)—Rio Ferdinand has gone one step further.

Using his popularity on the social network Twitter as a base, Ferdinand has launched merchandise lines and even a magazine (# 5), which is about all things fashionable (well, fashionable in Ferdinand’s eyes anyway).

Ferdinand has had some setbacks, namely a dispute with journalist Oliver Holt over the publication of private messages sent over the site, but his media awareness and popularity continue to grow.

2. Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo is easily one of the most recognisable players in the world—and one the reasons for his popularity has been his relationship with the media. 

Speaking as little as possible to the media outside of official press conferences, Ronaldo has created an exclusivity for himself. Any interviews he does give are treated like gold.

His use of social media is also phenomenal. Ronaldo has around 5 million followers on Twitter, and a staggering 35 million fans on Facebook. 

How has Ronaldo used this to his advantage?

He has used the system to create a buzz around his name. Ronaldo speaks about his desire to be the best and works to avoid controversy (a good example: he announced that he had a child on Twitter). All of this has made him extremely marketable.

Ronaldo has been selective in his advertising campaigns. He now finds himself one of the most sought-after athletes in the world when it comes to advertising. Well played, Cristiano.

1. David Beckham

David Beckham is the undisputed number one when it comes to being media savvy. Beckham is one of the best-loved, and highest-paid footballers in the world, with an estimated worth of around £135 million, nearly three times as much as the closest British footballer.

Not bad for a man who in 1998 became the most hated player in England as a result of his sending off against Argentina in the World Cup.

Since then, Beckham has used his looks and charm to woo the media. As a result he is no longer a football player, but a brand. His ability to charm the world has seen him represent London as the face of an Olympic bid, and England as part of the 2018 World Cup bid.

When he was picked out as the man who could take MLS to the next level, and lead a soccer revolution in the states, Beckham didn’t disappoint. His appeal in America showed that the man really can take advantage of the media.