Beckham tops the marketing chart over Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo, the world’s most expensive football player who moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid this summer, has not matched the sales boom when David Beckham made the same move in 2003.

According to Bloomberg, sales of adidas shirts are as much as 75 per cent lower from data gathered across six sports stores in Madrid.

It is believed the recession, the country’s worst in 60 years, and an unemployment rate of 19.3 per cent is to blame for the gap in sales.

Real Madrid said in September it expects a 3.5 per cent rise in total revenue to £400 million in the year through June 2010.

Team income went up 27 per cent in the year after David Beckham signed for the club, and 22 per cent of revenue came from sales of team apparel.