Cristiano Ronaldo’s Man United shirt sales hit record-breaking £187 million

CR7 makes his return to Old Trafford on Saturday

Sales of Cristiano Ronaldo's No.7 shirt have hit record-breaking levels as excitement builds ahead of his second Manchester United debut this weekend. The Red Devils take on Newcastle on Saturday at 3pm in a match that on paper is your standard Premier League fare. But this occasion has much more hype than usual, as it sees Ronaldo return. Of course, there's a more than slight chance the Portuguese forward won't start the game, but he'll almost certainly be in the squad. The hype is very real, and the kit sales show it. Ronaldo has managed to get his famous No.7 shirt from Edinson Cavani, so it's not just the return of Ronaldo but also the return of CR7. Since it was announced that he'd be donning the No.7 jersey, sales of the replica shirt have hit a staggering £187 million, making it the fastest-selling shirt in Premier League history according to Lovethesales.com. Of course, United don't receive all of that £187m, so let's not even get into the 'his shirt sales will pay for the transfer alone' argument. The club gets 7% of the profits from Ronaldo's shirt sales. https://twitter.com/LovetheSales/status/1436274154173517847?s=20 According to research from Lovethesales.com, the club has made £13.1m. So, whilst it covers the £12.9m transfer fee, it won't make the slightest dent on Cristiano's wages. But how does Ronnie compare to the only man that can rival him, Lionel Messi, who also had a well-publicised transfer move this summer? Well, he smashes him. Messi’s shirt sales at Paris Saint-Germain have hit £103.8 million with the French club earning £7.3m. 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 history but has netted Man United £13.1m in shirt sale revenue." Now we just wait to see how he performs on the pitch, and where he can take United to this season...