Financial survey reveals Los Blancos’ enormous wealth

Last season, Manchester Utd’s income increased by £45m year-on-year, thanks to their Premier League and Champions League double. But that wasn’t enough to make them bigger earners than bitter rivals Real Madrid. According to the annual Football Money League report - published by financial services giant Deloitte yesterday - Los Blancos were the world’s highest earning club in 2007/08 with £289.6m. Manchester Utd were second (£257.1m), followed by Barcelona (£244.4m), Bayern Munich (£233.8m) and Chelsea (£212.9m).

At first glance, one may be very surprised to see Madrid at the top of the earnings chart - they were disappointing in the Champions League, and the validity of their accounts is a grey area thanks to the Ramon Calderon scandal. The reason for the dominance, however, is actually our worthless currency. Nice one, Alistair Darling:

Only a drastic slump in the value of sterling has prevented United from reclaiming the title of “world’s richest club” from Real. Real Madrid’s income for 2007-08 rose a relatively modest four per cent to 365.8m euros, or £289.6m when converted at the June 2008 exchange rate of £1 = 1.2632 euros. United’s income at the same rate equated to 324.8m euros.

But sterling has crashed significantly, and if Deloitte had used the same exchange rate as in their previous report (£1 = 1.4856 euros, from June 2007), United’s latest income would have been 381.9m euros against Real’s 365.8m euros.

Chelsea enjoyed an 11.5 per cent increase in income year-on-year, but their huge ongoing losses will have Peter Kenyon fearing for his position:

An annual loss of £74.8m in 2006-07 on turnover of £190.5m meant the club had posted cumulative losses of £384m in four years. Haemorrhaging of money at such levels has always heaped ridicule on the long-standing claims of Chelsea’s chief executive, Peter Kenyon, that the club can break even by 2010. Yet further losses in the tens of millions are expected in the 2007-08 figures.

[The Independent]