Haaland, Acerbi and the art of the shirt swap

When Inter Milan defender Francesco Acerbi jokingly asked Manchester City star Erling Haaland for two shirts after Wednesday night’s Champions League match, he may have been pushing his luck.

Shirt swapping has long been a tradition in football, however, with many players taking great pride in the impressive collections they are able to build.

Some shirts are, naturally, in more demand than others, with one team even travelling to matches with several bags full to hand out on behalf of their star player.

But what exactly do players do with the shirts they acquire? And are all treated equally once the exchanges are carried out in front of the cameras?

Who boasts the greatest collection?

Many players have shared their proud collection of football shirts on social media, with entire rooms dedicated to showcasing the most revered.

Lionel Messi, no stranger to shirt swap demands as arguably the greatest player of all time, posted a photo of his collection which showed shirts covering the walls – as well as being encased in glass both in the ceiling and floor.Former Barcelona defender Gerard Pique said he was “sorting through my closet” when he came across a star-studded selection, which includes shirts from the likes of Messi, Andrea Pirlo and David Beckham.

Pique added he had framed the shirt he exchanged after the 2010 World Cup final, in which his Spain side beat the Netherlands, from Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.But the award for the most impressive of all collections surely goes to Italy manager Luciano Spalletti.

After guiding Inter Milan back to Europe’s elite club competition in 2019, Spalletti shared his collection of “names from the Champions League”, immaculately folded to display the names of countless giants of the game.Football shirt currency – do some matter more?

Some players must deal with far greater demand for their shirt than others.

Messi knows this as well as anybody, but the Argentina star has developed systems for coping with that during his illustrious career.

Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez told Prime Sport that Argentina’s national team kitman prepares 650 Messi shirts for every two games, to be distributed between players, staff, sponsors and even managers around matchdays.

It pays to have a friend on the inside. Martinez is frequently inundated with requests for Messi shirts and, at the 2022 World Cup, he softened the blow of Poland’s defeat by Argentina for Aston Villa team-mate Matty Cash by gifting him with one.But it’s not just all about the biggest names. Wayne Rooney admitted that his arrogance while playing meant he would never ask for a shirt from an opponent; however, he would always respect any player who asked for his.

And so, while he does not have a shirt from the likes of Zinedine Zidane, the former England and Manchester United star does have an Andorra shirt from Ildefons Lima – who was delighted to discover Rooney had kept it.

“I always respected any player who came up and asked for my shirt,” Rooney told BBC 5 Live earlier this year.

“I’ve seen players where they just throw it into the kit and aren’t interested, whereas I’d always show respect and take it home and keep the shirt.”Former Premier League defender Nedum Onuoha took a different approach, placing more value on the shirts of team-mates, specifically those whom he played alongside in Manchester City’s academy and at youth level for England.

“I didn’t end up swapping that many shirts, but the shirts I did swap were with people who I came up through the academy with or played alongside for England Under-21s,” Onuoha told BBC Sport.

“Most of us came from similar places. Our journeys went in different directions but I saw what it took for them to get here. There’s a lot of meaning behind them.”

On his favourite shirts, he added: “I have some of my early City ones in frames and an England Under-21s shirt from my debut when I scored as well, somehow.

“One of my favourites is from a pre-season friendly against Barcelona. I never asked for shirts because I was too shy. They were probably one of my favourite teams.

“After the game there were lots of shirt swaps and one which happened to be available was Seydou Keita’s, one of my favourite players. I couldn’t have taken it any quicker and it still means a lot to me.”