The Guardian:
Malcolm Glazer was yesterday given a glimpse of what might have been as Real Madrid overtook Manchester United as the world's biggest-earning club.
Real have built a commercial empire that is unrivalled in European football, doubling their revenues from £93.2m per annum in 2001 to £186.4m at the end of the financial year in 2005. David Beckham, the marketing phenomenon who arrived at the Bernabéu from Old Trafford for £17.8m in the summer of 2003, has played a significant part in the rise of the Spanish club.
"Although president Florentino Perez's strategy of recruiting world-class galactico players has not necessarily delivered the anticipated on-pitch results recently, their presence has facilitated a transformation in the club's financial performance," the European Money League report read yesterday when it was released by the business advisory company, Deloitte.
During the past 12 months United's revenues have fallen from £171.5m to £166.4m, indicating the extent of the challenge for the Glazer family whose leveraged takeover requires significant outlay in debt service. United are hopeful that next year will see their income improve.
1(2) Real Madrid £186.2m
2(1) Man Utd £166.4m
3(3) AC Milan £158m
4(5) Juventus £154.9m
5(4) Chelsea £149.1m
6(7) Barcelona £140.4m
7(9) Bayern Munich £128m
8(10) Liverpool £122.4m
9(8) Inter Milan £119.7m
10(6) Arsenal £115.7m
11(12) Roma £89m
12(11) Newcastle £87.1m
13(14) Spurs £70.6m
14(17) Schalke £65.8m
15(-) Lyon £62.7m
16(13) Celtic £62.6m
17(16) Man City £60.9m
18(-) Everton £60m
19(-) Valencia £57.2m
20(15) Lazio £56.1m
Source: Deloitte (Previous season's positions in brackets)