European Professional Football: Club Image and Human Capital Management

International audienceProfessional football (soccer) in Europe has become a very powerful entertainment industry from an economical point of view. This article is particularly interested in the privileged relationship between football fans and their favorite professional club, while the best players do not hesitate to change clubs when they can take advantage of better financial conditions. A research program is proposed for future works. It comprises two research propositions: (1) fan attachment to a professional football club is based on an identity process involving collective assimilation of values, myths and symbols; and (2) professional football clubs benefit from and even encourage the nomadism of their players, and build their image on elements independent from human capital