Ronaldo beats Messi in shirt sales; Brings in £187m in just 8 days

Cristiano Ronaldo now has the fastest-selling shirt in Premier League history, as his sensational return to Manchester United after ending his first spell at Old Trafford in 2009 seems to be a record-breaking one.

According to Love the Sales, Ronaldo’s iconic No 7 shirt has brought in £187.1m since his number was confirmed on September 2, while Messi, despite sealing his switch three weeks earlier, has racked up £103.8m in sales of his No 30 jersey.

This means the clubs, have made even more money despite the up-front costs for the stars. Ronaldo’s initial transfer fee before add-ons was £12.9m, meaning his shirt sales are 14 times more than that and have netted £13.1m in revenue for United already, while Messi’s signing-on fee of £25m after joining the French giants.

The shirt-sale data also reveals that Ronaldo’s shirt is unsurprisingly the fastest-selling in Premier League history and online searches for ‘Ronaldo 7 shirt’ have increased by 600% compared to last summer.