Cristiano Ronaldo shirt sales: Man Utd star hit record-breaking £187m ahead of second debut | OneFootball

United face Newcastle at Old Trafford at 3pm on Saturday and while the match won’t be shown on UK television, 76,000 people really do have a golden ticket.

Whether Ronaldo starts or not remains to be seen but, one thing is for sure, he will be wearing that famous No.7 shirt at the Theatre of Dreams tomorrow.

And so too will thousands of United fans who have purchased the replica jersey since it was announced that Ronaldo would be taking Edinson Cavani’s number.

In fact, according to research from Lovethesales.com, Ronaldo has the fastest-selling shirt in Premier League history.

And shirt sales have now hit a crazy record £187 million!

Of course United don’t receive that amount and, according to Kieran Maguire (Price of Football), they only get 7%.

But according to the research from Lovethesales.com, the club have made £13.1 million which covers the £12.9 million transfer fee. Not bad considering he hasn’t kicked a ball yet.

Not quite the extraordinary wages but it’s a start…

In comparison, Messi’s shirt sales at Paris Saint-Germain have hit £103.8 million with the French club earning £7.3 million.

Stuart McClure, the co-founder of shopping marketplace LovetheSales.com said: “We are tracking record-breaking sales of ‘Ronaldo 7’ kits across online retailers, to the point where demand is now outweighing supply.

Online searches for the ‘Ronaldo 7’ shirt have increased by over 600%, compared to last summer. This is proving to be the signing of the summer for Manchester United. Not only has Ronaldo smashed the record for the fastest selling shirt in Premier League history but has netted Man United £13.1m in shirt sale revenue.”

Ahead of his homecoming, Ronaldo gave an interview insisting that he’s at the Theatre of Dreams to win.

"I am capable," Ronaldo told the club's official website. "I am ready to go."

"This is why I am here," he said. "I am not here for a vacation.

"Before was good, winning important things and I wore the shirt before, many years ago, but I am here to win again.

"It is a good chance for me, for the supporters, for the club, to get one step ahead. I am ready and I think I will be a huge thing in the next three or four years."