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Manchester United suffered a disastrous season, with a record-low Premier League finish being compounded by a defeat in the Europa League final to domestic rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
However, despite United’s woes on the pitch, they continue to hold their own off it according to the Forbes football rich list.
As reported by The Athletic, United sit second in the list of most valuable football clubs in the world, only topped by 15-time European champions, Real Madrid.
United are valued at a whopping £4.9 billion with Madrid topping the list for the fourth consecutive year, now valued at £5.01 billion.
Given the strength of the Premier League, there is no surprise to see English teams make up over half of the top 10 with Liverpool and Manchester City sitting fourth and fifth, respectively.
London trio; Arsenal (8th), Tottenham (9th) and Chelsea (10th), make up the rest of the domestic representatives with Barcelona (3rd), Bayern Munich (6th) and recent Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain (7th) completing the top 10.
As per the report, these figures are based on the 2023-24 season in which United finished eighth under the guidance of Erik ten Hag who missed out in Champions League qualification but did win the FA Cup to keep his job heading into the new campaign.
Ten Hag was dismissed just a few months into the new season but his work was enough to keep United on the coattails of the Spanish giants with the global reach of the Red Devils still serving the club so well.
Forbes’ calculations are “based on factors that include the revenue streams and figures published by club accounts” with matchday, broadcast, commercial and club brand making up the four key factors for valuation.
It remains to be seen what Ruben Amorim’s 15th place finish does to the standings but United will be hoping to keep their place amongst the game’s elite as they enter a new era under the INEOS ownership.
Despite the heartbreaking loss in Bilbao, reaching the Europa League final should negate some of the loss of credit for the lowly league finish, with a much improved position demanded next season.
The new minority owners will be keen to see United overtake the mighty Madrid during their reign but will be well aware of the drastic need for improvements on the pitch.
Amorim heads into his first full season in charge under major pressure after failing to get a tune out of the current crop of first team stars in the second half of the last campaign.
A huge summer lies ahead for the club with a raft of changes to the playing staff expected before pre season gets underway in just under six weeks time.
Feature image Alex Livesey via Getty Images
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