£187m in shirts: The battle between Ronaldo and LeBron James for most jerseys sold

Cristiano Ronaldo's move to Manchester United has been a huge commercial success so far for the club side. The 5-time Ballon d'Or winner signed for the Red Devils in a £13m deal from Juventus, with up £8m expected in add-ons. With his debut on Saturday, the club had arguably made back all the £13m through the sales of tickets from the Newcastle United match at Old Trafford. Though, there are still many ways the club could make money from the Cristiano Ronaldo deal. 

One of the ways Manchester United will make money from signing Cristiano Ronaldo is through shirt sales and other merchandise sales. It was reported that the sales of Cristiano Ronaldo replica shirts/jerseys already broke Lionel Messi's PSG record. LoveTheSales platform reports that Cristiano Ronaldo's jersey shirts have sold for over £187m since his No 7 jersey was announced. The CR7 shirt is also the most sold of all shirts in the Premier League this season, with Jack Grealish's Manchester City shirt coming in second. 

Just like Cristiano Ronaldo, Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James is also a superstar that commands a huge following and massive shirt/merchandise sales. In Basketball, LeBron James reigns supreme as he was named the player with the highest NBA  merchandise/shirt sales in the United Kingdom. LeBron beats Brooklyn Nets duo of Kevin Durant and James Harden to the first position. The massive number of shirts that LeBron James sells also helped the LA Lakers to be the Number 1 team with the highest merchandise sales in the NBA. Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets come in at 2nd and 3rd on the list of most merchandise sales in the NBA.