Manchester City Ranked 5th Most Valuable Club in Europe

For the 4th time the accountants KPMG have published their annual assessment of the value of all the Clubs in Europe and for the second year running, Manchester City are in 5th position.

Although none of this will come as a surprise to Manchester City fans who continue to enjoy the ongoing renaissance of our great Club, the KPMG report does provide some salutary points for many of our detractors in the Press. In fact it serves as a stark reminder exactly what the UEFA Financial Fair Play model attempted to stop happening – for we have muscled our way into the top 5 most valuable clubs in the European hierarchy and do not look likely to surrender that position any time soon.

The KPMG model which is used to underpin the Club valuations is complex and made up of several key components, including operating revenues, staff costs to revenue ratio, debt, squad market value, social media followers and stadium utilisation rate.

One of the interesting things in the Report this year is that all of the other clubs in the top ten have moved places except Manchester City which is showing at the very least a remarkable consistency.

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The top Club in the report is Real Madrid with Manchester United and Bayern Munich making up the rest of the top 3. In front of City in 4th spot is Barcelona. The 6th to 9th positions are made up of English clubs which reflects the power of the Premier League and the importance of the broadcast revenue deal. Here sit Chelsea, followed by Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs. The final place in the top ten is Juventus.

The KPMG Report values City at around £2.2 billion. This represents a 14% increase in the previous year compared to Real Madrid who had a 10% increase. City’s overall ascribed value of £2.2 billion is just behind Barcelona and Bayern who are valued at £2.4 billion.

The report demonstrates clearly the things City are doing well. Our staff costs to revenue ratio is only 52% as opposed to Liverpool’s which is 58% and Barcelona’s which is 81%. Our squad value is the highest in Europe at £1.18 billion meaning we have bought well and added value to those players. Our stadium utilisation rate is 98% which compares well against Barcelona’s at 66% and Spurs at 76%.

It also highlights the things we need to do to really close the gap on the Clubs above us on the list. Our operating revenue is £568 million, clearly some way behind Manchester United at £666 million, illustrating there is growth to be achieved in sponsorship and commercial income. Our social media followers are showing at 59 million – this is our current potential customer group according to KPMG. This compares well to Liverpool at 58 million but is some way behind the Spanish giants of Real Madrid (230 million) and Barcelona (222 million). Of interest and far more achievable is Bayern Munich who are registering at 71 million.

The customer base will continue to grow as we continue to play our brand of attacking football and winning major trophies. it will be interesting to see what level we are registering at next season.

The KPMG report continues to confirm our growth and shows how far we have come since Sheikh Mansour’s takeover a decade ago.