Liverpool are the fourth most valuable football team in the world but still trail Manchester United by some distance.
US sports business website Sportico has published its annual football team valuations, using the most common multiple of revenue method, which places Liverpool behind United, Real Madrid and Barcelona with a valuation of $4.71bn (£3.76bn).
Manchester United, despite having not won a Premier League title for a decade and the UEFA Champions League for 15 years, holds top spot with a valuation of $5.95bn (£4.75bn).
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Manchester United’s valuation sits some £1.3bn less than what the Glazer family have been seeking for a full sale, with the club currently undergoing a sale process with British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe and head of the Qatar Islamic Bank, Sheikh Jassim bin Haman Al Thani both submitting their third, and believed to be final, bids for the football club last week, with both bids reportedly in excess of £5bn.
The $4.71bn valuation of Liverpool marks a 14 per cent increase from two years previous, with Manchester United’s increase over the same period of time sitting at 28 per cent.
Real Madrid sit second on the list at $5.23bn (£4.18bn), with Barcelona just ahead of Liverpool in third at $4.95bn (£3.95bn). Bayern Munich make up the top five at $4.46bn (£3.56bn), while Manchester City are the next Premier League side to feature on the list at number six with a valuation of $4.43bn (£3.54bn), a valuation £220m behind Liverpool’s.
Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group have identified potential investors into the football club who could take a partial stake, with FSG currently in talks over how to proceed. FSG are understood to have placed a valuation on Liverpool at around the £4bn mark, although the sale of Manchester United at an inflated valuation would likely have a ripple effect over the valuations of the biggest teams in world football that have, like United, scarcity value and a major global fanbase to tap into, not to mention competing in leagues with hugely valuable, locked-in broadcast rights for the coming years, such as the Premier League.
Chelsea, acquired by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital last year for £2.5bn, sit eighth on the list at $3.47bn (£2.77bn). The purchase, which also carried a commitment of a £1.75bn investment into the club’s infrastructure over time, was followed by heavy spending in the transfer market, with over £550m committed over two windows. However, the project has not worked out as planned so far with Chelsea sitting 12th, having sacked Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter during the season and reappointing former boss Frank Lampard until the end of the season.
The other Premier League teams to feature in the top 10 are Arsenal in seventh (£2.88bn) and Tottenham Hotspur in 10th (£2.55bn). Spurs are another club that have been linked with a search for potential fresh investment, with chairman Daniel Levy and owners ENIC believed to value the club at more than £3.5bn when taking into account the world-class, £1bn stadium that they own.
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