What the football financial rich list means for Premier League clubs

The football club richlist, carried out by management consultancy company Deloitte, which surveys financial performance year-on-year, is often dismissed by many a fan.

It is the publication of documents like this that can help to educate and answer the abundance of complaints supporters make every summer about a lack of spending in the transfer window, however.

There’s no surprise perhaps in learning Real Madrid, after winning ‘La Decima’ (10th Champions League title), topped the richlist for the 10th year running with revenues of £459.5m, while there were five English clubs ranked in the top 10.

As a result, Coral analyse what these recent figures mean for the Premier League sides, long term.

Manchester United
Man Utd, odds-on with Coral at 4/9 to finish in a Champions League spot, rose two places to second, despite not qualifying for Europe’s elite club competition last season.

However, their £433.2m revenue figure for 2014 is a £36.8m increase on 2013, though undoubtedly the arrival of big-money names in the summer, including Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao (on loan), motivated an upward surge in shirt sales.

Should the club finish in the Premier League top four this season and recruit more star players, it could see them topple Real next year, if they can challenge them for their share of the global market.

Manchester City
Retaining their sixth place position after winning the Premier League and Capital One Cup, City recorded a 28 per cent increase in revenue – the largest of any club in the top 10 at £346.5m.

Investment in overseas clubs, Melbourne City, New York City and Yokohama Marinos strengthened their commercial position, as a globalisation franchising strategy took centre stage.

Chelsea
The Blues have made significant strides in fiscal performance over the last decade following Roman Abramovich’s takeover; however, with the introduction of Financial Fair Play, they have worked hard to eradicate any build up of debt, in relation to expenditure and revenue. As a result, the west London outfit reported record revenue figures in 2013/14 of £324.4m, an increase of 25 per cent, which left them seventh in the standings.