Manchester United Named As The Most Valuable Club In The World

It's hardly headline news to say that football is as much a business as it is a sport these days with all the money that floats about and now Manchester United have been named as the first €3 billion club!

Ever since Sky Sports bought the rights to show football at the creation of the Premier League in 1992 the world of football has just become richer and richer with every incredible television deal.

Transfer prices for players have risen so exponentially in the last few years alone that we can no longer look at a £25 million player as being an expensive signing, that's pretty much the bare minimum for a decent player.

Pogba

_{Pogba's transfer record might not be broken this summer but it will be nearly matched by Antoine Griezmann. Image: PA}

According to Deloitte earlier this year Manchester United knocked Real Madrid off the top of the table in terms of being the richest football club in the world, not bad for a team who have been in the Champions League once in the last three seasons and spent £89 million on Paul Pogba.

United's revenue was €689 million, blowing Los Blancos out of the water by €69 million, with Barcelona in third not far behind their fierce La Liga rivals. Bayern Munich and Manchester City made up the top five.

Now, according to one of the other big four auditors KPMG, the Red Devils have become the first football club to be valued at over 3 billion with United coming in at €3.004 billion, or £2.61 billion, once again beating Real Madrid into second place with the Bernabeu club worth €2.895 billion.

Ed Woodward

_{Ed Woodward is likely to be a very happy man. Image: PA}

KPMG's global head of sports, Andrea Sartori, who wrote the report that named United as the most valuable club explained the rise in value of the football industry in the past 12 months saying, "While this is partially explained by football's broadcasting boom, the internationalisation of the clubs' commercial operations, their investment into privately-owned and modern facilities, and overall more sustainable management practices, are also key reasons for this growth."

"In terms of media rights value, the English Premier League sits comfortably at the top of European leagues, although other major leagues have outlined well-defined strategies to compete for the attention of global fans.

"However, unlike other factors, individual club's ability to influence their broadcasting income is often limited, despite the very evident impact this revenue stream has on their enterprise value."

Bernabeu

_{Real Madrid are getting used to being beaten by United but not on the pitch. Image: PA}

1. Manchester United (€3.004bn)

2. Real Madrid (€2.895bn)

3. Barcelona (€2.688bn)

4. Bayern Munich (€2.367bn)

5. Manchester City (€1.909bn)

6. Arsenal (€1.882bn)

7. Chelsea (€1.524bn)

8. Liverpool (€1.260bn)

9. Juventus (€1.158bn)

10. Tottenham Hotspur (€978m)

11. Paris Saint-Germain (€948m)

12. Borussia Dortmund (€917m)

13. Atletico Madrid (€771m)

14. Schalke (€663m)

15. AC Milan (€504m)

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a writer for SPORTbible. He covers all sport from football, formula one, cricket, rugby, tennis, athletics, mma and wrestling. He obviously hates YOUR football team and has no interest in synchronised swimming.

@Sidler28