Man United’s “Ronaldo 7” shirts set record during first 12 hours of sales
In one of the biggest stories of the transfer window, Cristiano Ronaldo rejoined Manchester United, a deal officially confirmed on deadline day.
@Cristiano is back!#MUFC | #RonaldoReturns
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 31, 2021
In a shocking twist of events, Ronaldo was at one point set to join Manchester City, before United swooped in at the eleventh hour to bring their club legend back to Old Trafford, allegedly paying a fee of 15 million euros with the potential for a further 8 million euros in add-ons.
To make matters even better for the football romantic, Edinson Cavani agreed to give up the number 7 shirt to allow Ronaldo to return to his CR7 brand.
it’s official
7️⃣ @Cristiano#MUFC | #RonaldoReturns
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 2, 2021
As a result, there were long queues outside the official store, with fans queuing up to represent their iconic player and his iconic number once more.
Thinking of our colleagues at the Megastore this morning
7️⃣ @Cristiano#MUFC | #RonaldoReturns
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 3, 2021
Now, the amount that the PR stunt to change Ronaldo back to number 7 earned Manchester United has been laid bare. As per lovethesales.com, Ronaldo already has the most owned Premier League shirt this season, and the jersey broke the record of the fastest-selling shirt online in the first 12 hours.
As per the report, total sales have hit £32.5 million, with Manchester United (as per Sports finance expert Kieran Maguire) making around 7% per shirt sold.
United get 7% on a £60 shirt which works out at £4.20 per unit. The cost of Ronaldo is £12m transfer fee (minimum) plus wages of £20m a year. Total cost £52m over 2 years. The club would have to sell 12.4m additional shirts to pay for his recruitment.
— PriceOfFootball (@KieranMaguire) September 4, 2021
This means that The Red Devils have already recouped around 2.25 million pounds on shirt sales alone from the signing of Ronaldo, although of course, it is difficult to tell just how many additional sales he has brought in.
Either way, they could be on course to recoup his transfer fee across his two-year stay at Old Trafford. (Agency report)
