The folks at Deloitte have issued their annual Football Money League
By splashing huge money on the likes of Angel di Maria and Falcao, Manchester United flexed their financial muscle over the summer and now we can see why. In the annual Football Money League, produced by Deloitte, we can see that Old Trafford was a money making factory last term, even if performances on the pitch were among the worst in recent memory.
Despite finishing seventh, missing out on the Champions League and sacking David Moyes, United's revenues climbed from £363.2m (€474m) to £433.2m (€565m). That vault in earnings, no doubt boosted by the club's many
lucrative sponsorship deals, put the club into second on the Football Money League, with only Real Madrid earning more.
The Spanish club raked in £459.5m (€549.5m) last season but the analysts reckon that United's lucrative deal with adidas, worth £75m a year, will eventually help to push them to the top of this league by 2017.
United's boost in earning shoved Bayern Munich (£407m) and Barcelona (£405m) down a slot while PSG (£396m) round out the top five.
What is most noticable in the Top 30 is just how many Premier League clubs are there. The huge TV revenues and other commercial advantages to being in the English top flight mean that 14 Premier League clubs are on the list. Only Hull, Crystal Palace and West Brom, plus the relegated trio of relegated Cardiff, Fulham and Norwich, don't make the top 30.
Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool occupy places six to nine and Juventus sit in tenth.
Premier League clubs who would not have even a fraction of Manchester United's global appeal, such as Sunderland (27th place, £95.7m) and Swansea (29th place, £90.5m), are still bringing in huge dough every season.
In fact, the most startling line of the report was: "In fact, every Premier League club reported record revenues in 2013-14."
The list only covers revenue, and does not take into account debt, so not all of this cash is available to splurge on new players and wages but if you were in any doubt that the Premier League is richer than ever, this should dispell it.
You can check out the full report
here.
