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The New England Revolution revealed this morning that first-year French forward and club leading goalscorer Saer Sene is among the top-25 jersey sellers in MLS. The numbers were pulled from MLSGear.com, MLSGearCanada.ca, and MLS club websites.
This means that out of all current MLS players (somewhere in the neighborhood of 500-plus athletes), Sene's name on #39 Revolution jersey is among the 25 highest-selling in the league. Specifically, he comes in at 24th on the list, just ahead of the Fire's Arne Freidrich. He is also the only Revolution player on the list.
The explosion in popularity is likely due to the season that Sene has had before tearing his ACL against Chivas last week: the left-footed striker hit 11 goals in 25 games, becoming the first Revolution player to reach double digits in goals since Taylor Twellman in 2007. One of his goals, a ranged, knuckling strike against Philadelphia in early August, won the league's AT&T Goal of the Week award.
It may also have to do with Sene's flamboyant personality. He has made an identity for himself in Foxboro with his dyed-blonde Mohawk, and is known to celebrate goals with the fans and with choreographed displays. Supporters in the Fort at Gillette are always appreciative of a player who gets excited about performing for his fans.
According to the release, Sene is also a contender for MLS's Newcomer of the Year Award. The complete top-25 list of jersey sellers in MLS (from March 10th to September 10th) is below:
1. David Beckham, LA Galaxy
2. Thierry Henry, New York Red Bulls
3. Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy
4. Fredy Montero, Seattle Sounders FC
5. Dwayne De Rosario, D.C. United
6. Chris Wondolowski, San Jose Earthquakes
7. Tim Cahill, New York Red Bulls
8. Robbie Keane, LA Galaxy
9. Mauro Rosales, Seattle Sounders FC
10. Brian Ching, Houston Dynamo
11. Darlington Nagbe, Portland Timbers
12. Chris Pontius, D.C. United
13. Osvaldo Alonso, Seattle Sounders FC
14. Young-Pyo Lee, Vancouver Whitecaps FC
15. Kris Boyd, Portland Timbers
16. Barry Robson, Vancouver Whitecaps FC
17. Eddie Gaven, Columbus Crew
18. Brad Davis, Houston Dynamo
19. Roger Torres, Philadelphia Union
20. Freddy Adu, Philadelphia Union
21. Kei Kamara, Sporting Kansas City
22. Kyle Beckerman, Real Salt Lake
23. Mike Magee, LA Galaxy
24. Saer Sene, New England Revolution
25. Arne Friedrich, Chicago Fire