Ronaldo shirt sales: Fans spend £32.5m in the first 12 hours

This time next week, Cristiano Ronaldo would have made his second debut at Manchester United.

Supporters are counting down the days until they see Ronaldo in a United shirt once again and that’s expected to happen next Saturday at Old Trafford against Newcastle.

Those excitement levels were notched up a little when it was announced earlier this week that CR7 would be getting his famous No.7 shirt. 

Edinson Cavani allowed Ronaldo to take the No.7, with the Uruguayan moving to No.21.

Unsurprisingly, there were large queues outside Man Utd’s club shop with fans wanting to get their hands on a ‘Ronaldo 7’ jersey.

Cristiano Ronaldo 7 shirt sales hit £32.5m in the first 12 hours.

The club has now recouped 1/4 of the £12.9m fee the club paid Juventus to bring Ronaldo to Old Trafford.

At this rate, they will recoup the whole transfer fee for Ronaldo over the weekend.

(LoveTheSales) pic.twitter.com/rri0sg4Kk0

— Footy Accumulators (@FootyAccums) September 4, 2021

But how many shirts did United sell?

Well, according to Lovethesales, ‘Ronaldo 7’ shirt sales hit a staggering £32.5 million in the first 12 hours of his squad number being announced.

Also Read: Ronaldo: United return the best decision

But before we get all carried away thinking the club have already made a profit on the transfer fee paid for the Portuguese superstar, United only get 7% of a shirt sale, according to Kieran Maguire (Price of Football). 

That works out as £4.20 for every £60 shirt sold.

So, from that £32.5 million, the club have actually made £3.25 million. Not bad when you consider that’s only in the first 12 hours!

Sales of Manchester United ‘Ronaldo 7’ shirts hit £32.5m in the first 12 hours since Manchester United officially announced Ronaldo’s squad number, breaking the record for the fastest selling shirt online in PL history. pic.twitter.com/Xb1KfX2SX0

— Oddschanger (@Oddschanger) September 4, 2021

Again, according to Lovethesales, United may be able to recoup the entire £12.9 million transfer fee over the weekend at the current rate. 

But when you include his wages too, the club would have to sell another 12 million more ‘Ronaldo 7’ shirts to cover his two-year stay.

But Ronaldo’s shirt is already the most sold jersey this season and, while the sales may not cover his entire deal, United are certainly counting the millions from signing the most marketable player in football.