Manchester united deny Shinji Kagawa was bought as a marketing ploy

It didn’t take long for the inevitable questions to surface after Manchester United announced they had reached an agreement to sign Japanese midfielder Shinji Kagawa from Borussia Dortmund. Kagawa’s skill is not in doubt – he scored for Japan on Friday, when they thumped Jordan 6-0 in a World Cup qualifier. But the questions centred on the link between the new man and a boost in shirt sales in the Far East – a link strenuously denied by the club’s commercial director, Richard Arnold. But as the Premier League’s top clubs look to football’s biggest and potentially most lucrative market in Asia, there’s no doubt that having Kagawa alongside South Korea’s Park Ji-Sung in their team photo can only help United to capitalise on an Asian fan base that is already the envy of the football world. The figures are eye-watering. Leading market researcher Taylor Nelson Sofres suggests the Premier League runners-up boast 660million supporters worldwide – more than 100m of whom are based in Asia.

It’s every kid’s dream to play for Manchester United Tom byers

When David Beckham left the club in 2003, the club’s global fan base was estimated to be 50m, with 17m of those from Asia. According to Andy Milligan of Caffeine, a brand growth consultancy, and author of Brand It Like Beckham, the arrival of Kagawa could see Manchester United surge further ahead of their rivals when it comes to cashing in on Asian interest. “There are two ways that Premier League clubs are now taking advantage of the opportunities in Asia,” he says. “If you can get a good Asian player in your side, then it does produce a lot of additional interest in the region. The big breakthrough will come when a Chinese footballer is playing in the Premier League because of all the markets in Asia, China is by far the biggest.

“The other opportunity is establishing an identity in Asia, where clubs develop a strategy that they think will play out well over there. “United have already talked about floating on the Singapore stock exchange, which shows where they believe the opportunities are. “United are well ahead of the rest but the core product for all football teams is to have success on the pitch. If you’re not in the Champions League, you’re not going to have access to billions of people.” South Korea grinds to a halt whenever Park takes to the field for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, but Simon Chadwick, professor of sport business at Coventry University, says cashing in on the Asian market is still tough.

“We surveyed around 3,000 Japanese, Korean and Chinese football fans, and the one thing that came across very strongly was that for them to support a club, that club should sign one of their local players,” said Chadwick. “Kagawa and Park are perfect for United, but United have to think very carefully about how they use Kagawa and Park in their marketing.” The signing of Kagawa has certainly sparked the imagination in Tokyo, where Tom Byers, the man who discovered the midfielder, has been coaching for over 20 years. “It’s every kid’s dream to play for Manchester United,” says Byers, “and Kagawa has shown that anything is possible.”