Manchester United are officially the richest club in the world. The Old Trafford outfit dwarf every other side, including the big guns of Italy and Spain, when it comes to earnings power.
A survey conducted by chartered accountants Deloitte & Touche in conjunction with football magazine Four Four Two showed that United's turnover in the season ended in 1997 was £87.94 million. That figure is nearly £30 million more than second-placed Barcelona, whose turnover for the same period was £58.87 million.
It should be remembered that these standings are based on financial results prior to Arsenal winning the Double and competing in the Champions' League.
Rangers are the only Scottish team in the top 20, ranked 14th with a £31.66 million turnover.
The world's 20 richest clubs are: 1 Manchester United £87.94 million turnover; 2 Barcelona £58.87m; 3 Real Madrid £55.66m; 4 Juventus £53.22m; 5 Bayern Munich £51.62m; 6 AC Milan £47.48m; 7 Borussia Dortmund £42.2m; 8 Newcastle £41.13m; 9 Liverpool £39.15m; 10 Inter Milan £39.07m; 11 Flamengo £37.42m; 12 Atletico Madrid £32.38m; 13 Paris St Germain £31.7m; 14 Rangers £31.66m; 15 Roma £28.22m; 16 Tottenham £27.87m; 17 Ajax £27.8m; 18 Parma £27.76m; 19 Lazio £27.33m; 20 Arsenal £27.16m.
Former England captain David Platt yesterday resigned from his role of supervisor of Serie A strugglers Sampdoria following a torrid seven weeks at the club.
Platt has come under increasing fire since taking over at the Genoa club on December 17th, with his appointment beset with controversy from the beginning after Italian soccer chiefs refused to recognise his UK coaching qualifications, and he was unable to take his place on the bench.
