Pre-season tours are about getting players ready for the new campaign, but as Chelsea found it this week it’s as much about building fanbases and support too.
With all the crazy transfer fees and wages flying around these days, the business side of football is absolutely crucial and many of the top clubs in Europe have long been going on tours around the world over the summer to build commercial and fan relationships.
The Chelsea players have been doing their part as seen in the images below, with the likes of Alvaro Morata, Thibaut Courtois and Cesar Azpilicueta all taking time out to attend an Ericsson event before indulging in a few games of FIFA with fans.
There was also a skills challenge where they invited members of the Ericsson engineering team to try and replicate what they were doing, and along with a Q&A session, the entire event was a huge success.
With Chelsea and Ericsson announcing a Connected Venue partnership in Singapore on Thursday, the reigning Premier League champions are certainly doing their part in forging relationships both business and fan based.
Alvaro Morata and his Chelsea team-mates joins fans for a game of FIFA in Singapore. #CFC pic.twitter.com/HFgCm0p1MK
— AbsoluteChelsea (@AbsoluteChelsea) July 27, 2017