Real Madrid leapfrog Manchester United to become the most valuable football club in Europe

Real Madrid have been named as the world’s most valuable club, ending Manchester United’s three-year stay at the summit.

Despite not enjoying much success on the pitch domestically, Los Blancos reaped the rewards for their dominance in Europe having won three successive Champions League trophies.

According to the latest edition of Football Clubs’ Valuation: The European Elite, as prepared by KPMG, Real are valued at £2.9billion, ahead of United’s £2.83bn. 

The Spanish giants end Manchester United’s three-year stay at the summit to take the top spot

Below Real and United, Barcelona (£2.41bn) surprisingly dropped out of the top three most valuable clubs to fourth with their brand value taking a hit due to lack of success in Europe.

This left German giants Bayern Munich (£2.43bn) to take up the final podium position.

The next five spots are taken up by Premier League sides with Manchester City (£2.2bn), Chelsea (£2bn), Liverpool (£1.9bn), Arsenal (£1.8bn) and Tottenham (£1.5bn) completing the top nine.

Spurs’ remarkable financial performance this season saw them leapfrog Juventus (£1.3bn) into ninth while they also registered record levels of pre-tax profit along with their opponents in the Champions League final, Liverpool.

Tottenham leapfrog Juventus to move up into ninth while four English sides sit above them

The report, which includes Europe’s top 32 clubs, is there to provide an indication of the enterprise value (EV) of the most prominent European football clubs as at January 1, 2019.

Enterprise value of a company is worked out using the market value of the club owners’ equity, plus total debt, less cash and cash equivalents. 

This indicates what the business is worth regardless of the capital structure used to finance its operations.

This will take into account variables such as profitability, popularity, sporting potential, broadcasting rights and stadium ownership.