For the biggest football clubs on the planet, in order to try and keep ahead of the competition they have to lean into finding ways to make commercial revenue keep growing.

Manchester City have had little problem in that respect over recent years, with City’s 2023/24 published financial accounts showing that the club has grown its commercial revenue from £173million in 2015, to £345million in 2024, an increase of a staggering 99% over the course of nearly a decade.

That figure has been aided by City’s success on the pitch that they have been able to leverage and turn into bigger and better deals, as well as the strong relationships the club has with big, blue-chip businesses in the Middle East thanks to ownership.

But while the club has grown enormously off the field it perhaps hasn’t been able to make itself as culturally relevant as some of its rivals, who have leveraged relationships that exist with famous fans or investors, such as Liverpool’s Nike collaboration with basketball icon LeBron James, a partner in the Reds’ owners, Fenway Sports Group.

Last year saw City’s neighbours Manchester United launch an Adidas collaboration with the Stone Roses, creating new merchandise that appealed to both music fans, football fans, and fashion fans alike.

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The idea of clubs wanting to become more like lifestyle brands isn’t new. Paris Saint-Germain’s kit partnership with Nike’s sister Jordan brand has spawned a host of merchandise using the unique pull of Paris as a city, and creating lines that don’t just appeal to fans of PSG, but those into fashion. PSG, to underline that point, have a boutique store on New York’s iconic shopping street, Fifth Avenue.

Manchester might not have the reputation for high fashion like Paris or Milan, with AC Milan also aiming to become a culturally relevant global brand, but it does have huge ties to music, and that is something City are tapping into.

This summer sees the long-awaited return of Oasis, with the band, fronted by brothers and huge Man City fans Liam and Noel Gallagher, who patched up their differences to hit the road again, being the music story of the year.

City have launched a line of merchandise to tie in with the 30th anniversary of Oasis’ debut album ‘Definitely Maybe’, as well as the Gallagher’s close connection to the club.

The merchandise will be heavily inspired by the 1990s era, with bucket hats and t-shirts that blend iconic club moments with song titles from the album.

‘Up in the Sky features an image of Erling Haaland‘s famous goal against Borussia Dortmund and ‘Slide Away’ has the image of Rodri’s knee slide celebration from his UEFA Champions League final winner in 2023 which helped City complete a historic treble.

For City, this is the ability to try and make the most of the unique relationship they have with the band, at a time when the eyes of the music world will be on the reunion this summer. It might not deliver enough in terms of funds to cover the January transfer spending, but it points to a wider play from City who, like other clubs, know that they have to have appeal away from just selling replica shirts.

"Clubs should look for the stardust effect,” explained Neil Joyce, co-founder of fan data analytics firm CLV Group, addressing the potential for celebrity collaborations in the company’s 2024 report 'Connecting and Winning U.S. Fandoms: A Guidebook for European Clubs.

“That means collaborations with content partners, development of ecosystem partnerships that span music, entertainment, anime and video gaming, which bring both physical and digital propositions to bear for the clubs and their partners, celebrities from the world of music, gaming, other sports “