
Forbes rank Manchester United second most valuable football club at £4.8 BILLION despite abysmal season
The Manchester United team ahead of their Europa League semi-final against Athletic Bilbao, May 2025
(Image credit: Alamy)
Despite their on pitch failures, Manchester United are still a financial juggernaut
The Red Devils are estimated to be the second most valuable football club in the world despite their 15th placed Premier League finish and failure to qualify for Europe this season.
12 Premier league clubs rank amongst the 30 most valuable in the world according to Forbes, alongside teams from Italy, Spain, Germany, France and the United States.
Manchester United valued as second most valuable club in the world
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim (Image credit: Getty Images)The report states that Manchester United benefit from the influx of cash the continental competitions offer European clubs, stating that Real Madrid’s 2024 Champions League triumph saw them earn roughly £113 million in prize money.
Atalanta, who won last years Europa League pocketed £28 million, which clearly helped Manchester United following their dreadful domestic performances.
Jude Bellingham lifts the Champions League trophy after Real Madrid’s win over Borussia Dortmund in the final in June 2024. (Image credit: Getty Images)It also suggests Manchester United’s previous dominance of English football, as well as impressive European performances, helps increase it revenue and therefore keeps it just behind Real Madrid as the second most valuable club.
Other Premier League teams feature on the list including champions Liverpool, who came in at fourth, valued at £3.98 billion and Manchester City, who came in fifth at £3.9 billion.
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
Arsenal (8th) and Newcastle (19th) saw the biggest year on year growth at 31% and 38% respectively.
FA Cup winners Crystal Palace are reportedly the 29th most valuble club in the world, worth £580 million.
Marc Guehi lifts the FA Cup after Crystal Palace’s win over Manchester City in the final in May 2025. (Image credit: Getty Images)Top 30 most valuable clubs in the world Swipe to scroll horizontally
Header Cell – Column 0 Value
Club
League
Owners
Percentage change year-on-year
1.
£4.98 billion
Real Madrid
La Liga
Club members
2 per cent
2.
£4.87 billion
Manchester United
Premier League
Glazer family, Jim Ratcliffe
1 per cent
3.
£4.17 billion
Barcelona
La Liga
Club members
1 per cent
4.
£3.98 billion
Liverpool
Premier League
Fenway Sports Group
1 per cent
5.
£3.91 billion
Manchester City
Premier League
Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan
4 per cent
6.
£3.77 billion
Bayern Munich
Bundesliga
Club members
2 per cent
7.
£3.4 billion
PSG
Ligue 1
Qatar Sports Investments
5 per cent
8.
£2.5 billion
Arsenal
Premier League
Stanley Kroenke
31 per cent
9.
£2.44 billion
Tottenham Hotspur
Premier League
Joseph Lewis Family Trust, Daniel Levy
3 per cent
10.
£2.4 billion
Chelsea
Premier League
Todd Boehly, Clearlake Capital
4 per cent
11.
£1.59 billion
Juventus
Serie A
Agnelli Family
5 per cent
12.
£1.52 billion
Borussia Dortmund
Bundesliga
Club members
4 per cent
13.
£1.26 billion
Atletico Madrid
La Liga
Miguel Gil, Enrique Cerezo, Ares Management, Idan Ofer
6 per cent
14.
£1.1 billion
AC Milan
Serie A
RedBird Capital Partners
5 per cent
15.
£922 million
Los Angeles FC
MLS
Bennett Rosenthal, Brandon Beck, Larry Berg, Peter Guber
4 per cent
16.
£885 million
Inter Miami
MLS
Jorge Mas, Jose Mas, David Beckham
17 per cent
17.
£850 million
Inter Milan
Serie A
Oaktree Capital
15 per cent
18.
£830 million
West Ham
Premier League
David Sullivan, 1890s Holdings, David Gold Family Trust
2 per cent
19.
£811 million
Newcastle
Premier League
Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund
38 per cent
20.
£727 million
Los Angeles Galaxy
MLS
Philip Anschutz
5 per cent
21.
£719 million
Atlanta United
MLS
Arthur Blank
8 per cent
22.
£664 million
Aston Villa
Premier League
Wes Edens, Nassef Sawiris
13 per cent
23.
£645 million
New York City FC
MLS
Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Steinbrenner family
3 per cent
24.
£634 million
Brighton
Premier League
Tony Bloom
18 per cent
25.
£627 million
Fulham
Premier League
Shahid Khan
8 per cent
26.
£608 million
Austin FC
MLS
Anthony Precourt, Eddie Margain
10 per cent
27.
£597 million
Roma
Serie A
Friedkin Group
—
28.
£590 million
Seattle Sounders
MLS
Adrian Hanauer
2 per cent
29.
£582 million
Crystal Palace
Premier League
Eagle Football, Josh Harris, David Blitzer, Steve Parish
1 per cent
30.
£579 million
D.C. United
MLS
Jason Levien, Steven Kaplan
1 per cent
Ewan is a freelance writer and social media manager who has worked for The Athletic, GOAL, 90min and OneFootball. From Gelsenkirchen to Riyadh, he has covered some of the biggest games in football in his three years in the industry.