Audio By Carbonatix
Manchester City have overtaken Manchester United as the most valuable Premier League club, according to a new football finance study.
City are valued at £2.364bn, up £385m, while United are valued £2.087bn, a drop of £376m blamed on "higher wages and lower profit".
The top six account for almost three-quarters of the combined league value.
Burnley are seventh and described as the "most sensibly run club in the Premier League financially".
Overall, the study by the University of Liverpool's Centre for Sports Business Group, found the cumulative value of the league's clubs is £14.7bn, a 1.6% drop.
The two Manchester clubs are the only two valued at more than £2bn in the study for the 2017-18 season.
Spurs (£1.837bn), Liverpool (£1.615bn) and Chelsea (£1.615bn) have seen big rises but Arsenal dropped to £1.368bn without Champions League football.
The top six clubs make up 74% (£10.9bn) of the overall total with Burnley almost £1bn behind Arsenal in sixth.
To calculate their data, the university took into account revenue, profits, non-recurring costs, average profits on player sales over a three-year period, net assets, wage control and proportion of seats sold.
The research says City are top due to a combination of "higher revenue and lower wages". They made £39m in profit from player sales at the beginning of last season, "removing some high earners from the wage bill".
"The ownership model of Sheikh Mansour, which effectively means that the club is debt free, means that there are no loan interest costs and no dividends are paid to shareholders either," the study added.
United came third, behind Real Madrid and Barcelona, in Deloitte's list of the world's richest clubs published in January - but that is just based on revenue.
Other findings:
- United had the highest revenue in the league at £590m, with City second on £500m
- Spurs have the lowest wage/revenue percentage in the division at 39%, while Palace's is the highest at 78%
- Leicester and Arsenal's failure to qualify for the Champions League again saw their value fall
- The Gunners made £120m profit on player sales
- Burnley are described in the study as the "most sensibly run club in the Premier League financially"
- Huddersfield have the lowest wages at £63m, with United's £296m the highest
- Chelsea top the table for annual matchday income per fan at £1,791, with Huddersfield making the least at £201
- Broadcast revenue accounts for 88% of Bournemouth's value - the highest in the league
- Brighton saw a 148% increase in wages - the most in the league
Latest Stories
-
President, staff at presidency donate GH¢6.1m of their salaries to Mahacare Fund
4 minutes -
GGSA, Bentley Systems sign MoU to advance digital geoscience capacity in Ghana
10 minutes -
High Court refuses OSP application to stay ruling halting independent prosecutions
15 minutes -
Delays in investor approval deepen hardship at Akosombo Industrial Company Ltd as workers await revival deal
29 minutes -
GIISDEC targets mine and processing plant development by 2027
42 minutes -
THE LAW 101: Can a court force a lawyer to stay on a case?
48 minutes -
S&P Global Ratings assigns Afreximbank ‘BBB+/A-2’ investment grade rating
56 minutes -
GES cautions against fake BECE selection notice
1 hour -
Ghana School Enterprise Project launched to bridge TVET education and entrepreneurship in Ashanti Region
1 hour -
Protector or Predator? How anti-immigrant violence is undermining South Africa’s economic recovery
1 hour -
Ashaiman Irrigation Scheme under threat as encroachment engulfs farmland – Kojo Akoto Boateng
1 hour -
High Court rejects Appiah-Kubi’s bid to withdraw legal representation in Wontumi-linked mining case
1 hour -
T-bills auction: Government records 13.6% oversubscription, but at higher cost
2 hours -
Defend democratic governance – Mahama Ayariga rallies young citizens
2 hours -
Akka Kappa’s Jolanda Castagna honoured as Best CEO in Real Estate Brokerage
2 hours