What can a fake YouTube video do for you? Well, if you’re name is Stewart Downing, a moderately-talented soccer player for Liverpool, it can turn a decent paycheck into an absolute gold mine.
The story, which was seen over at TheBigLead.com, goes something like this: Before he transferred to Liverpool, Downing’s previous club, Aston Villa, made a viral video of Downing hitting soccer balls into a trashcans that were placed some 30 yards away. Members of the Liverpool management team — Americans John Henry and Tom Werner — saw the video and apparently went nuts.
The only problem is, the video was a fake:
Now, it should be noted that Downing was already a player in the English Premier League, although, he’s probably not good enough to warrant £20 million transfer fee. Thanks to the video, however, the American management team just had to have him, even after they realized the video was a fake:
John and I said, ‘Oh my god, this player is brilliant, we’ve got figure out a way to make a deal with him.’ We later found out of course that the footage was somewhat doctored but we were so excited about Downing joining Liverpool.
So what can a viral video do for you? Well, if the right, — or in this case, wrong — management team gets ahold of it, you may wind up being part of a huge money deal, one that’s way, way above your skill level.