Real Madrid named world 8217 s richest football club

Real Madrid have been named the richest football club in the world for the tenth consecutive year.

The Spanish side topped the Deloitte Football Money League after raking in a huge €549.5 million (£459.5 million) during the 2013/14 season. It represented a revenue growth of €30.6 million from the previous season and dwarfed the €518 million made by second-placed Manchester United during the same period. Only Real and Man United broke the €500 million barrier.

Bayern Munich (€487.5 million), Barcelona (€484.6 million) and Paris Saint-Germain (€474.2 million) made up the rest of the top five. The English quartet of Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool featured in the top ten ten alongside Italian champions Juventus.

Real's success in the financial market was helped by the team finally winning their so-called "Decima" when they beat Atletico Madrid in May to claim their tenth European Cup/Champions League title. Deloitte explained that Real's continued success on the pitch is complemented by the financial muscle the La Liga side has.

In recent years, Real have broken the world transfer record twice. First by signing Cristiano Ronaldo from Man United for £80 million and then purchasing Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur for a huge £85 million. Recruiting players of this calibre has allowed Real to break the dominance of Barcelona, winning the Champions League and Spain's Copa del Rey last season.

Deloitte noted that the combined revenue for the top 20 clubs in the football rich list has grown by 14 per cent in the past season to over €6 billion. It predicts that all the top five clubs will have revenues of €500 million next year.

Dan Jones, partner in the sports business group at Deloitte, explained: "Commercial and broadcast revenues are now more important than ever to clubs to enable them to compete financially and put the best talent on the pitch.

"This has led to further dominance from the ‘big five’ European leagues [England, Germany, Spain, France and Italy] this year, with just Galatasaray making it in from outside of those leagues.”

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