In what seem an anti-climax to Manchester United fans, one of their most revered former players, Cristiano Ronaldo, has helped Juventus bypass the Red Devils as the third most popular football team on social media, after seeing an increase of 20 million followers.
The Portuguese superstar joined in summer 2018 and Juve have reaped the rewards since, now eclipsing Ronaldo’s former side United.
Juve boasted 10 million prior to the arrival of Ronaldo, but their rapid increase still sees them sit some way off first place, with a fellow European giant on 77.6 million.
TOP FIVE MOST POPULAR CLUBS ON INSTAGRAM
- Real Madrid – 77.6m followers
- Barcelona – 76.4m
- Juventus – 31.1m
- Manchester United – 31m
- PSG – 23.8m
Real Madrid still sit atop the pile, and benefitted hugely from Ronaldo’s long spell with the club. The forward himself boasts a colossal 131 million fans and is the most-followed athlete on social media.
Juventus’ following may have also increased after the summer arrivals of no less than eight senior players.
Matthijs de Ligt, Danilo, Cristian Romero, Luca Pellegrini, Merih Demiral, Adrien Rabiot, Aaron Ramsey and Gianluigi Buffon were all signed by Maurizio Sarri this summer.
Dutch wonderkid De Ligt has 3.8 followers, Ramsey has 3.6m while club legend Buffon has 8.1m.
Barcelona are second behind rivals Real Madrid due to their 76.4m Instagram following with Juventus third (31.1m), Manchester United fourth (31m) and Paris Saint-Germain fifth (23.8m).