Man Utd behind Spanish giants on football’s rich-list

Manchester United have dropped one place to third in footballs 'rich-list', behind Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona, while Arsenal have clawed their way into the top five by leapfrogging their London rivals Chelsea.

The table, which ranks the clubs according to turnover and does not include transfer fees, puts the La Liga teams in the top two positions. Real are in top spot for the fifth year running while United, who topped the table for eight years before Madrid took over, are now down in third after Barcelona, who beat them in the Champions League final last summer, got another one over on them.

Real's turnover was more than 400m euros, more than 70m euros greater than United's. But Deloitte, the company that compiles the list said that United would have been top of the table if the pound was still at June 2007 levels.

Despite a 9 per cent rise in income at Old Trafford, they could not hold off Barcelona, who won an astonishing five trophies last season. Their figures are particularly impressive as they do not even have a sponsor, and actually pay Unicef to have their logo on the shirt.

German club Bayern Munich lie in fourth place ahead of Arsenal, whose financial prudence is well documented. The Gunners' financial successes are in stark contrast to most other clubs in the Premier League and their step up the table comes after the announcement last week that they had slashed their debts by £100m after making pre-tax profits of £35.2m in the six months to the end of November.

The Deloitte table is based on turnover in the 2008-9 season and Arsenal leapfrog Chelsea thanks to a seven per cent rise in revenue to £224m. The Blues' revenue shrank three per cent to £206 million.

Liverpool are in seventh place, ahead of three Italian clubs, Juventus, Inter and AC Milan.

Aside from the 'big four', Tottenham, Manchester City and, surprisingly, relegated Newcastle, are also in the top 20, making England the best represented country with seven clubs on the list. Germany contributes five, although four are outside the top 10. Four Italian clubs make the list as do two from France. But Real and Barca are the only representatives from La Liga.

The only two new clubs on the list are Manchester City and Werder Bremen - replacing VfB Stuttgart and Fenerbahce.

THE TOP 10 WEALTHIEST CLUBS BY REVENUE

Real Madrid: 401.4m euros
Barcelona: 365.9m euros
Man Utd: 327m euros
Bayern Munich: 289.5m euros
Arsenal: 263m euros
Chelsea: 242.3m
Liverpool: 217m euros
Juventus: 202.3m euros
Inter Milan 196.5m euros
AC Milan: 196.5.m euros

Source: Deloitte: 2008/09 ·