Liverpool will look to surpass Manchester United in one key area next year as the Old Trafford side continues to see the implications of a lack of success on the field and a continued financial hangover from the pandemic.
Listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) back in 2012, United's share price closed at its lowest figure in the past decade at $12.34 a share on Friday having hit a low of $12.16 during trading - it's second lowest figure in a decade.
The share price has plummeted by 40 per cent since September, a decline that was accelerated in recent days following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the club's sponsorship agreement with Russian airline Aeroflot, which has now been terminated.
The continued noise in recent days over another European Super League plot that could manifest soon has also added to the uncertainty surrounding the club.
Back in October, with the share price far higher, members of the club's Glazer family ownership, Edward and Kevin Glazer, sold 9.5m Class A shares with a value of £137m.
United did not receive any proceeds from the sale of those shares, which would have been worth £20m less on Friday than they were at the time of the sale.
As a Plc, United post quarterly updates on their financial performance, with the latest update from Old Trafford showing that net debt stood at £494.8m on 31 December 2021, up from £455.5m at the end of the previous year.
Sponsorship revenue fell by £2.6m, although overall revenue grew by 7.3 per cent for the three months, standing at £185.4m.
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It is the commercial revenues where Liverpool are looking to close the gap on Manchester United.
For so long United had been the commercial powerhouse of the Premier League, tapping into their global appeal under former executive vice chairman Ed Woodward, who has now been replaced by Richard Arnold as of the beginning of February.
But while their commercial appeal remains strong, the continued lack of success on the pitch and lack of value for money in the transfer market has allowed others to make ground.
Manchester City's most recent accounts for the 2020/21 period saw them outstrip United for revenues for the very first time, posting £569.8m thanks to success on the pitch and a number of high value commercial deals.
Liverpool, who posted their 2020/21 accounts last week, showed resilience in the face of the pandemic with a £4.8m loss, taking their overall losses for the last two seasons to £50.8m. That is the lowest by some distance of the so-called 'big six'.
The combined losses of the six clubs who were agitating to form a new European Super League last year, stands at £775m over the two pandemic-affected seasons.
That figure comes after Arsenal posted their financial results for 2020/21 on Monday, their losses leaping from £54m in 2019/20 to £124m for 2020/21.
Of that £775m figure Liverpool equate for just 6.5 per cent of the losses over the last two years from the clubs who had been involved in the ESL plot.
That period also covers a time when Liverpool won the Premier League, finished third in the League and made the last eight of the Champions League.
Commercial revenues held steady, rising £0.2m to £217.6m, and with the full value of the Nike deal to be felt in next year's accounts, which the Reds hope will take them surpass the £70m that United get from Adidas, with the incentivised nature of the deal seeing Liverpool take 20 per cent on the sale of Reds/Nike merchandise globally, the Reds are in a strong position.
They also have a major renewal on the horizon, the value of which could give a reflection of the market confidence in the Reds against United.
Liverpool's front of shirt sponsorship is their most prominent, and one of their most valuable, and has been held by Standard Chartered since 2010.
But the current deal, worth £40m per year to the Reds, is up at the end of the 2022/23 season and Liverpool will likely seek at least a £10m lift on that deal, if not more, to take them past the £50m mark and, in turn, past Manchester United.
United engaged a new front of shirt sponsor last year when software firm TeamViewer acquired the rights for a reported £47m per season, taking over from Chevrolet.
Liverpool's continued success on the pitch and the growth of their brand globally will likely mean that there will be even more suitors at the table when the sponsorship rights come up for grabs, and that a premium would have to be paid to acquire them.
With the kit deal looking like it could well bridge the gap that existed, and with Liverpool likely to see more than what United are getting from TeamViewer, and with United's struggle to return to the top of English football looking no closer, the Reds are primed to make up some serious ground over the course of the next couple of years.
