When clubs make major signings, we often get to hear the story of how the transfer will "pay for itself thanks to shirt sales". While this is largely a myth, Cristiano Ronaldo might be on the verge of changing it for Juventus.
According to sports daily Tuttosport, the Italian side have already sold more jerseys this season than they did in the whole of last. And this is almost certainly due to signing Ronaldo from Real Madrid.
In August, Juventus' online sales in the European Union grew by 145%, i.e. more than doubled compared to the same month in 2017.
This has caused Juventus as well as some football retailers to literally run out of shirts to sell, which means that you can currently only pre-order them. They will again be available from the second half of October.
While most of the additional money earned this season will go to Adidas, due to the way these type of deals are usually structured, it may help Juventus negotiate better terms with the three-stripe brand in the future.
Juventus are currently paid an estimated £20 million per season, which is far below the likes of Bayern Munich, Manchester United or Real Madrid. Unfortunately for Juventus, the current deal is still valid until 2022, so there's not that much pressure for Adidas to improve it right now.
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