Media circus was not the same before the era of social media. So no. I was a big football fan growing up and I never heard of Messi or Ronaldo before they started doing well at pro level, which is when they really started showing up on television. I see posts about Endrick and all sorts of other U15s since he was 15, on the other hand.

It’s the sheer volume and accessibility of media we consume. More and more content is always needed, so it’s natural that one of those points of expansion would be making celebrities out of younger footballers.

bro, there’s no shortage going on, take some of these on the house:

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