Mirror: McTominay s signature jersey sold for €24,000

The "Mirror" reported that McTominay's signed jersey sold for a high price of 24,000 euros (21,164 pounds).

If you were asked to name which current football players' jerseys sell for tens of thousands of pounds, you would probably list the obvious stars, such as Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi. But most people may not rank McTominay's name too high, but the world of football is always full of surprises.

This is not the jersey McTominay wore when Scotland defeated Denmark in the World Cup preliminaries. In fact, this jersey came from May this year, when McTominay opened the scoring for Napoli against Cagliari, helping the team win 2-0 and win the Serie A championship.

After the game, McTominay's jersey was signed by the player himself and auctioned through MatchWornShirt. The company works with clubs and national teams to give fans the chance to buy a piece of history, with the value of a shirt entirely determined by how much fans are willing to pay for it, which in this case was over €24,000 (£21,164).

James Froude, business development director at MatchWornShirt, told the Mirror: "You have two reasons to collect, right? Big-name star jerseys always sell. So whether Ronaldo barely touches the ball or scores a hat-trick and wins During the World Cup, his jerseys always sell for eye-popping prices. The other part is based on specific moments, people invest because something special happened in a certain game."

He also mentioned the one Baumgartner wore in a match between Austria and Slovakia. jersey, when the midfielder's goal just six seconds after the kick-off was the fastest goal in the history of international football: "While the game was still going on, the price of his jersey had already risen to around 4,000 euros, or some ridiculous number, because people could interact with that moment."

"This sounds a bit like a marketing cliche, but that's what we sell, right? We sell both the jersey and the moments together as an additional part of the jersey."

It is reported that Baumgartner's jersey eventually sold for 18,000 euros.

Froude is also a jersey collector himself. As a Chelsea fan, most of his collection is related to this club. He said that his collection started when Salomon Kalaw received a jersey signed by him when he played for Chelsea. When he was a teenager, he would often run to the front row of the stands at the end of games, hoping that a player would throw his jersey to him, and the pain of missing out made him more determined.

He said: "No matter where I sit in the away team stands, I know that if the result of the game is positive, nine times out of ten the players will end up in front of the fans. So I developed a habit that no matter where I am, around the 87th or 88th minute, I will go to the front row, so that at least if the jersey is thrown over, I will be nearby and have a chance to grab one."

"I remember that I I touched Ballack's jersey with my hand, and I'm pretty sure he threw it to me, but who knows? We'll never know. But I didn't get it, so some big guy in the stands snatched it from me, and I was heartbroken." Froude still has a sizeable collection, but he hasn't paid the five-figure sums that some other jerseys have achieved. At the time of writing, the record price for a jersey is £54,369, which was paid by a South Korean bidder for the jersey worn by Cristiano Ronaldo in Portugal's draw with Hungary in October.

Among the current top ten most expensive jerseys, three belong to Ronaldo and four belong to Messi. The rest belong to PSG star Marquinhos (whose 2025 Champions League final shirt sold for £48,119), former Tottenham captain Son Heung-min and Marquinhos' PSG team-mate Kvara Tshelia.

MatchWornShirt only processes first-half jerseys to avoid depriving players of the opportunity to swap jerseys at the final whistle. Not far from their offices, there is a warehouse full of these jerseys, and you can imagine the smell inside.

There are two lockers in the middle of the warehouse, which are used to remove player DNA from the jerseys without washing them. It is said to be at the request of a club. Sweat, dirt and grass stains are all evidence of the authenticity of the jerseys, and basically must be retained. If you think jerseys are going to get dirty or soaked in sweat during a game, they're nothing compared to gear for rugby or cycling.

As for who is buying these jerseys? Who wants to spend tens of thousands of pounds on a piece of equipment that has been worn by a player, sometimes even for a game they themselves didn’t attend? According to Froude, the buyers are a mix of fans and financial speculators, some buying souvenirs for themselves or their nearest and dearest, others ready to resell them at a profit.

He said: "People see the value of these jerseys, these moments, these items, and everyone wants a piece of the pie. So, in addition to what I call 'emotional investors,' people like me who collect just because they want the memory, the feeling and the occasion of that jersey, you are also seeing more and more financial investors. I think those two types of people, both personally and professionally, are interesting to me."

" Because obviously we want to sell the biggest product, the best stuff, something that's really topical, but I'm equally excited for that person who might go to a Fulham game and maybe it's their kid's 18th birthday and they want to buy a Harry Wilson shirt because it means something special to them. Because that's basically what we're selling, the emotional connection, of course, there's a financial aspect to it, but I'm equally interested in people's emotional investment and their financial investment.. ”

With the top ten most expensive shirts selling for between £35,000 and £55,000 each, the record is likely to be broken again before long, especially with the World Cup approaching. MatchWornShirt works with more than half of the teams participating in Euro 2024 and is expected to host the World Cup in North America next summer. They will cooperate with more than half of the 48 national teams in the Cup.

Froude said: "I very much hope that every team in the World Cup will be within the scope of our cooperation. Realistically speaking, we can't do it, but the cooperation ratio will be between 50% and 100%. The closer to 100%, the more likely we are to obtain those truly important occasions and moments." "

"That's what we want, we hope to have the World Cup finals jersey on the platform next summer. Hopefully it's England, but let's not get hung up on the details just yet. "