Manchester City have claimed the top spot in the Deloitte Money League for the 2020/21 campaign, with five Premier League sides making up the top 10 and others featuring further down the table.
Despite spending big over the summer – namely on Jack Grealish from Aston Villa – the Etihad Stadium outfit became only the fourth club to ever top the Money League, which profiles the performance of the ‘highest revenue generating clubs in world football’. The campaign is the first to be impacted entirely from start to finish by Covid.
City finished the campaign with a revenue of £541.1million, which is double what some of the clubs in the lower end of the table earned. Pep Guardiola’s side enjoyed plenty of success in the Premier League and their solid campaigns in cup competitions will have bolstered their funds as well.
Real Madrid earned just under £4m less than City, with Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich sitting in third and Barcelona surprisingly making up the top four despite their financial woes. The report also makes the point of how the Premier League account for almost 50% of spending in the 2022 January transfer window and thus it is not a shock that there are several clubs present from the league.
Manchester United (£494.1m), Paris Saint-Germain (£492.5m) and Liverpool (£487.4m) are all closely matched as they make up the top seven, with yet more English clubs showcasing their impressive figures despite the impact of the Covid pandemic. That remains the case for the rest of the top ten as Chelsea, Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur sneak into the list.
Plenty of the clubs you would expect to see in a money-orientated list make up the rest of the top 20, though there are some surprise inclusions from England. Leicester City (15th), West Ham (16th), Wolves (17th), Everton (18th) and Aston Villa (20th) all feature.
Leicester’s success in the FA Cup last season will have certainly influenced their revenue figures, as well as progressing into the Round of 32 in the Europa League – a tournament that is televised all over Europe. West Ham’s feature in the list is courtesy of their 41% rise in revenue compared to 2020, with their hard-earned sixth-placed finish capturing the attention of many who enjoyed their fast-paced, counter-attacking style.
For a season that was tarnished by the pandemic, the clubs who came out on top will certainly be excited for this season now that fans have returned to stadiums. Deloitte report that the past two seasons have seen clubs in the Money League miss out on £1.6billion worth of revenue due to the virus – mostly due to fixtures being played behind closed doors. It remains to be seen how the figures differ at the end of the season and whether there will be another shakeup in the league.
Deloitte Football Money League 2022
1st – Manchester City (£571.1m)
2nd – Real Madrid (£567.3m)
3rd – Bayern Munich (£541.4m)
4th – Barcelona (£515.4m)
5th – Manchester United (£494.1m)
6th – Paris Saint-Germain (£492.5m)
7th – Liverpool (£487.4m)
8th – Chelsea (£436.6m)
9th – Juventus (£383.9m)
10th – Tottenham Hotspur (£359.7m)
11th – Arsenal (£324.5m)
12th – Borussia Dortmund (£298.9m)
13th – Atletico Madrid (£294.7m)
14th – Inter Milan (£293m)
15th – Leicester City (£226.2m)
16th – West Ham United (£196.1m)
17th – Wolverhampton Wanderers (£194.1m)
18th – Everton (£193.1m)
19th – Zenit (£187.7m)
20th – Aston Villa (£183.6m)
