Why would United want to keep Ronaldo?

Despite unconvincing performances on the pitch, United's level of social media interaction, such as sharing, likes and comments, has nearly doubled to more than 2 billion in just 12 months. The emergence of Ronaldo, who has 465 million followers on Instagram since the summer of 2021, has helped United make huge strides in social media campaigns and online sales revenue.

Ten of the 25 most interactive posts from Premier League clubs last season were related to Cristiano Ronaldo, with the top three linked to the Portuguese superstar. For this reason, Manchester United surpassed Barcelona and Real Madrid for the first time and became the club with the most social network interaction in the world.

These numbers are hugely important in modern football because commercial sponsors consider social media interactions as well as how much to invest when they consider investing in clubs. Among them, the level of positive interaction is considered to be more valuable than the total number of followers.

"Ronaldo's commercial value will influence United's decision," Dr Rob Wilson, a sports business expert at Sheffield Hallam University, told British Sport. "Manchester United don't mind Pogba leaving and returning to Juventus, but they have to think more carefully about Ronaldo behind the scenes. It's not just a professional issue."

According to Wilson, Ronaldo's presence has helped United resolve issues related to business development, which the Old Trafford boss wants to keep. He further analyzed: "Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer value as a player is lower than its value as a commercial entity."

Dr Wilson said Manchester United's latest deal-with global tech firm DXC as shirt sleeve sponsor-a multi-year deal worth $24 million was an example of the "Ronaldo effect". He added: "This is the biggest sleeve sponsorship in the Premier League, it comes from the sixth-ranked club. Sponsors want interaction, not followers. The interaction with Ronaldo broke out."

United are still seeking new deals with airline partners after terminating their contract with Russian carrier Aeroflot due to tensions in Ukraine and sponsorship contracts at the training ground. In Dr Wilson's view, this is a great motivation for Manchester United to keep the Ballon d 'Or owners.

Additionally, current sponsors are said to be putting pressure on the Old Trafford boss to ensure Ronaldo continues to play for the club next season. They have invested heavily and expect Ronaldo's level of interaction to be maintained for years to come. United, as well as trading partners, are well aware that if the striker goes to another music club, what Ronaldo brings may be taken away by himself.

Similar to Man Utd, Juventus has recorded extraordinary growth in revenue and interaction on social networks for three years of owning Ronaldo. According to a new analysis of Conviva's online and society, "old lady" also suffered a significant opposite effect when the Portuguese star left the club to return to Manchester last year.

"The benefits of having a big player like Ronaldo in the squad beyond his professional ability," said Nick Cicero, Vice President in charge of strategy at Conviva to Sportmail. "Ronaldo is the most watched in the world for a number of reasons, but first of all is the popularity of European football. No other sports in the world bring interactions and monitoring as much as the tournaments. European football. Combining that with an attractive, frank and extremely talented individual like Ronaldo, you will have a formula to succeed. "

Man Utd showed a tough attitude, reflected in the new coach Erik Ten Hag confirming that Ronaldo was still in Man Utd's plan, in a press conference before the Liverpool 4-0 victory at Rajamangala. "Ronaldo is not for sale. We want to win glory together," the Dutch coach emphasized.

Ronaldo always appears in new trends in the fan community, which attracts the attention of big clubs. Two years ago, big clubs were shaken by a study of fans, by the European Club Association (ECA), then under the leadership of President Juventus Andrea Agnelli. This study revealed the level of global fans attached to success, and showed that in the young fans group, supporting which team was determined by their interest in each player. .

This trend is unlikely to happen in countries such as Britain. But in some emerging football markets, such as India, which has a population of 1.4 billion, the choice of clubs may be influenced by a favorite player among nearly one third of supporters.

Ronaldo is now living evidence that clubs can significantly expand their influence and revenue through transfer policies, even at a time of declining professionalism. Revenue growth is not all jersey sales, but United can make money from global followers through trading partners.

Therefore, in the future, superstars can help clubs avoid the ups and downs of market competition and lay a solid financial foundation as they wish. What Ronaldo has done for Manchester United in the past year is an example.

Cicero stressed: "The benefits of social appeal are increasing, leading to bringing players like Ronaldo into the team is a deal that should not be underestimated." "We expect clubs and sports teams around the world to invest in individual brand building of players as a means to develop the overall brand of the team in the next few years."

The Euro 2016 champions have had a particularly significant impact on videos, with the number of views per video almost tripling to 193,000. The total number of fans has also increased from 144 to 170 million. All of these dizzying changes came in a season when United finished sixth with just a Premier League-era low (58 points), breaking LF's old record of 64 points in 2013-2014.

United are still behind Spain's two giants in total fan numbers-Real Madrid with 281 million and Barcelona with 267 million. However, they cannot compare with United in terms of interaction. The figures for Barcelona and Real Madrid are 1.6 billion and 1.4 billion respectively.

Ronaldo's sale, meanwhile, has a big impact on Juventus' social network, which could cost the club financially as they negotiate major commercial contracts.

According to Forbes, when the Portuguese star signed in 2018, Juventus' revenue increased by $60 million through sales, press conferences and signings. In his second season with Ronaldo, sponsorship with Jeep and Adidas was renegotiated and the amount doubled.

Now, Conviva has found a 53 percent reduction in the number of interactions per Juventus post and a 43 percent reduction in the total number of interactions to 28 million, while the total number of followers has increased only slightly by 5 percent.