London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Jun 06, 2025

Ronaldo Manchester United transfer: Why shirt sales won't balance the books

Ronaldo Manchester United transfer: Why shirt sales won't balance the books

Manchester United has spent £12.85m on signing Cristiano Ronaldo, but they'll make that back in shirt sales as people rush to buy his kit, right?

That might be what your mates in the pub are saying, but it's not true.

There's a good chance the club will see a commercial benefit from the signing - on top of what Ronaldo does on the pitch of course - but shirt sales are not really part of that.

The top dogs at Adidas, though, will be rubbing their hands with glee.

"The fee's already been agreed between the manufacturer and the club," says Dr Dan Plumley, who is a senior lecturer in sport finance at Sheffield Hallam University.

"So the shirt sales go to the manufacturer - or the majority of them [do]."

Juventus fans left tributes to Ronaldo outside their stadium in Turin after news of him leaving the club

Manchester United signed a 10-year deal with Adidas worth £750m in 2014 - the biggest kit deal ever seen in world football.

The exact details of the deal are kept private so we don't know if United gets a cut of shirt sales, but Dan says "it's very unlikely that that would ever be above 10%".

He says the club will get £5 per shirts at the absolute maximum - when the shirts on sale at the moment can cost fans up to £100.

Why are kit deals worth so much then?


Adidas may make back its £750m in shirt sales alone.

But Dan says there are other reasons they pay so much to make United's kits.

Signing in style: Ronaldo and Kleberson show off their United kit in 2003

"There is a wider picture here of all the commercial aspects as well," he tells Radio 1 Newsbeat.

"Big brands like to be associated with other big brands," he says - and Manchester United and Adidas are two of the biggest brands in the world.

It's a similar story for Barcelona and Nike or Manchester City and Puma - they're mutually beneficial to each other.

Will Ronaldo get to wear number seven?


There have been rumours swirling around that Ronaldo will get his famous number seven shirt back.

He wore that at Manchester United, Real Madrid (except for his first season) and Juventus - and has built up his CR7 brand around it.

"He'll be wanting to protect that as much as possible, and the number on the shirt at Manchester United is another way to do that," Dan says.

There's a problem though.

Edinson Cavani came on against Wolves at the weekend, wearing the coveted number seven shirt

Edinson Cavani already occupies the number seven shirt, so the club would have to make a formal request to the Premier League to swap numbers.

As it stands, there have been no pictures of Ronaldo posing with a Manchester United shirt and the Premier League website hasn't listed him with a number yet.

If Ronaldo gets the number that he made his name under, at the club he made his name with, there will no doubt be a surge in people wanting to buy his new kit.

United will hope his massive social media presence will help to build the hype even more.

"They'll be looking at adverts that target fans towards their own merchandise shop or come and visit Old Trafford, do the stadium tour and spend money in the club shop," says Dan.

"It's a mainstream global audience, and that can have some real impact."

But any money the club makes off that will still likely be very small in the context of their overall revenue, with which last year was £509m.

It still stands that the old "shirts pay for transfers" argument is just a myth.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Man Group Mandates Full-Time Office Return for Quantitative Analysts
JPMorgan Warns Analysts Against Accepting Future-Dated Job Offers
Builder.ai Faces Legal Scrutiny Amid Financial Misreporting Allegations
Japan Grapples with Rice Shortage Amid Soaring Prices
Goldman Sachs Reduces Risk Exposure Amid Market Volatility
HSBC Chairman Mark Tucker to Return to AIA as Non-Executive Chair
Israel Confirms Arming Gaza Clan to Counter Hamas Influence
Judge Blocks Trump's Ban on International Students at Harvard
Trump Proposes Travel Ban on 'Uncontrolled' Countries
Chad Suspends Visa Issuance to U.S. Citizens in Retaliation
Xi Jinping and Donald Trump Hold First Call Since Trade War Began
Global News Roundup: From Ukraine's strategic military strikes and Russia's demands and Tensions Escalate in Ukraine, to serious legal issues faced by Britons in Bali and Trump's media criticism, the latest developments highlight a turbulent landscape
Majority of French Voters View Macron's Presidency as a Failure
Hungary Partners with China to Boost Electric Vehicle Production
‘Vibe Coding’ Emerges as the New DIY Trend
AI Pioneer Yoshua Bengio Warns Models Can Deceive Users
Big Four Firms Rush to Create AI Auditing Systems
Musk’s xAI Pursues $113 Billion Valuation in New Share Sale
Walmart Increases Revenue Despite Shrinking Workforce
Hims & Hers Plans UK and EU Launch of Replica Obesity Drugs
Toyota to Acquire Supplier in $33 Billion Buyout
U.S. Reduces Military Presence in Syria
Trump Demands Iran End All Uranium Enrichment in Nuclear Talks
China Accuses US of Violating Trade Truce
Panama Port Owner Balances US-China Pressures
France Implements Nationwide Outdoor Smoking Ban to Protect Children
German Chancellor Merz Keeps Putin Guessing on Missile Strategy
Mandelson Criticizes UK's 'Fetish' for Abandoning EU Regulations
British Fishing Boat Owner Fined €30,000 by French Authorities
Dutch government falls as far-right leader Wilders quits coalition
Harvard Urges US to Unfreeze Funds for Public Health Research
Businessman Mauled by Lion at Luxury Namibian Lodge
Researchers Consider New Destinations Beyond the U.S.
53-Year-Old Doctor Claims Biological Age of 23
Trump Struggles to Secure Trade Deals With China and Europe
Russia to Return 6,000 Corpses Under Ukraine Prisoner Swap Deal
Microsoft Lays Off Hundreds More Amid Restructuring
Harvey Weinstein’s Publicist Embraces Notoriety
Macron and Meloni Seek Unity Despite Tensions
Trump Administration Accused of Obstructing Deportation Cases
Newark Mayor Sues Over Arrest at Immigration Facility
Center-Left Candidate Projected to Win South Korean Presidency
Trump’s Tariffs Predicted to Stall Global Economic Growth
South Korea’s President-Elect Expected to Take Softer Line on Trump and North Korea
Trump’s China Strategy Remains a Geopolitical Puzzle
Ukraine Executes Long-Range Drone Strikes on Russian Airbases
Conservative Karol Nawrocki wins Poland’s presidential election
Study Identifies Potential Radicalization Risk Among Over One Million Muslims in Germany
Good news: Annalena Baerbock Elected President of the UN General Assembly
Apple Appeals EU Law Over User Data Sharing Requirements
×