United set to topple Real
14 Feb 2008 - 11:40:50
Manchester United are expected to topple current leaders Real Madrid as the world's richest club within the next two seasons.
In Deloitte's latest Football Money League review, the Spanish champions have remained at the top for the third successive season after their revenue increased by 20 per cent to £236million.
However, United jumped from fourth to second place on £212million on figures based on revenue generated from the 2006/07 season, ahead of Barcelona, Chelsea and Arsenal in third, fourth and fifth respectively.
The English champions had dominated the scene in the late 1990s when the study was first conducted and Paul Rawnsley, director of Deloitte's sports business group, is predicting a return to the top for the Old Trafford club.
"Real Madrid are still at the top after an impressive 20 per cent growth in revenue, but Manchester United closed the gap and have the potential to catch Real up and take that top spot possibly next season or the season thereafter," he said.
"To some extent, that will depend on how they perform relative to Real Madrid in the Champions League."
Elsewhere, the remaining English clubs towards the top end of the table are Liverpool (8th), Tottenham (11th) and Newcastle (14th).
However, two of the four clubs that dropped out of the list were also English - Manchester City and West Ham United.
"We would expect to see as many as 10 of the top 20 being made up by English Premier League clubs in next year's table," continued Rawnsley.
"There are different ways of measuring the health and quality of the league, but there has been period of strong financial growth in terms of broadcasting rights and matchday and commercial revenues.
"Yes, the clubs spend a lot of money on wages, but overall, the Premier League clubs are profitable.
"It is a different story lower down the leagues, but the Premier League is the highest revenue-generating league in the world."