Top 10 richest clubs in the world (2018)
In the first week of January, Soccerex released a list of the most valuable football clubs in the world. The name might not sound common since it is mostly Forbes or Deloitte's Football Money League we look up to for such rich-lists.
Soccerex has compiled the list of the richest clubs in a more comprehensive manner in contrast to the aforementioned organisations, who produce rich lists on the basis of just revenues incurred, operating income and net debt.
Soccerex, on the other hand, has used a five-scale model in order to obtain a Football Finance Index (FFI), a score which helped in deciding the richest football club in the world. The FFI is calculated keeping the following in mind:
- Playing assets - Market values of the players
- Fixed assets - values of training centres and stadiums
- Cash in the bank
- Owner Potential Investment - An index of Soccerex that describes the extent up to which an owner can invest in a club.
- Net debt
The most astounding part of this list is the fact that the likes of Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Liverpool have failed to make it to the top ten, coupled with a lot of other surprises. It is crystal clear that revenues aren't the sole factor that has decided the outcome. With those giants missing out, which ten clubs have made it to the list? Let's have a look:
Note: All transfer and market values courtesy - Transfermarkt.com
#10 Bayern Munich
FFI Score: 2.086
Reigning Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich made it to the top ten list by beating Russian giants Zenit St. Petersburg, who finished 11th amongst the list of top 100 richest clubs around the globe.
The club has minority shareholders like Adidas, Audi and Allianz, while 75% ownership lies with the club members. The Bavarians also have 0 net debt value - the best amongst the ten clubs.
The club has a high player asset value worth €603 million. Robert Lewandowski is their most valuable player for €80 million, followed by Thiago Alcantara and James Rodriguez. Also, their ability to churn out excellent results without making marquee signings is appreciable.
In an age where other European giants are ready to shell out large chunks of cash, Bayern is a club that stands strong by its values and principles. Though they don't invest heavily in the market, they have provided stiff competition to other heavyweights in the UEFA Champions League.