Real is top soccer moneymaker again, top 20 clubs make $7bn

The Premier League boasts 17 teams in the top 30 of this year’s Deloitte Football Money League.

The Catalan club move up a place ahead of Manchester United whose income totaled $565.7 previous year, but the overall trend for English Premier League clubs is upwards with a staggering 17 English teams making the top 30.

Barcelona comes in second place followed by the Red Devils, Manchester United.

Manchester United, although slipping one place to third, remain the highest revenue-generating club in the Premier League, earning €519.5m (£395.2m).

English sides occupy the places directly behind Bayern, with Manchester City in sixth, Arsenal in seventh, Chelsea in eighth and Liverpool in ninth.

The league table ranks football clubs by reported revenue and this year Southampton rose three places to 22nd with revenues of £149.5m.

The financial strength of the Premier League helps explain the competitiveness within the league – the likes of Everton, Stoke and West Ham can now outbid numerous top clubs in Italy, Spain, Germany and France for players.

Deloitte Football Money League, based on season 2014-15, also said the combined revenues of the 20 clubs had risen 8% to €6.6bn (£5.1bn), a new record.

“Barcelona’s on-pitch achievements in the 2014-15 season have translated to financial success”.

Dan Jones, who edited the report, said: “For the first time the top three clubs in the Football Money League have all passed the €500m revenue mark”. However, Manchester United, in 3rd place this year, have a good chance of overtaking Real at the top of football’s rich list next year.

French club Paris Saint-Germain and German champions Bayern Munich rounded out the top five.

United’s return to Europe’s elite club competition and the impact of huge new adidas sponsorship deal should see the club take over at the top of from the Spanish giants for the first time since 2004. West Ham (€160.9m).

“However, we have also seen a slowdown of growth from the top five clubs, with revenues growing by just 4% year on year, compared to 11% in the previous edition. The 2014-15 finalists – Barcelona and Juventus – saw increases in Uefa distributions of €19.1m and €39m respectively, whilst last year’s finalists – Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid – saw decreases as a result of not matching their exploits of 2013-14”.