LONDON: Manchester City have dethroned their bitter rivals Manchester United as the most valuable club in the Premier League, according to a new study.
The ‘noisy neighbours’ have not just matched and outclassed United on the playing field, but have also built a brand over the last decade or so that is capable of overtaking the Red Devils.
According to a study by the University of Liverpool’s Centre for Sports Business, City is the most valuable club in the Premier League with a value of £2.364 billion ($3.082 billion), overtaking United at £2.087 billion ($2.6 billion). In 2017, United led the valuation charts at £2.463 billion while City were a distant second at £1.979 billion.
Manchester City overtook Manchester United as higher wages and lower profits had a negative impact at Old Trafford.
As per the study, the value of Premier League clubs decreased by 1.6% overall to £14.7 billion, with the ‘Big Six’ (Manchester United and City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs) making up £10.9 billion (74%) of this total (2017: £9.9 billion 67%).
The gap between the bottom club in the ‘Big Six’ and the next highest valuation is now nearly £1 billion.
The only major deal in the Premier League during 2017/18 was in relation to Stan Kroenke acquiring the remaining 30% of the shares in Arsenal that he didn’t already possess for £550 million, which valued the club as £1.83 billion. In the 2017 club valuation report, Arsenal was estimated to be worth £1.82 billion.
