Top 10 richest soccer clubs in the world

Money if used well and in huge sums is one of the most important assets in soccer. The richest soccer clubs in the world have the backing of financially abled and wealthy people or organizations. This helps them bring in players with huge potential for huge transfer fees from other clubs. A club with proper ownership and management combined with good funds leads to good infrastructure and training facilities as well. Clubs like Manchester City, Paris Saint Germain and some other clubs are amongst the richest clubs in the world. Let’s take a look at the top 10 richest soccer clubs in the world.

List of 10 richest soccer clubs in the world

10) Arsenal – $2.6 billion

The Gunners have a very rich history winning numerous trophies ever since the club’s inception. Arsenal’s owners Stan Kroenke have invested a lot of money to keep the club running at the highest level. The Gunners were in a struggling era for some time in the mid 2010s failing to even qualify for the top 4. However, the narrative has changed since Mikel Arteta came in. Arteta has received more than sufficient backing from the owners and has shown results as well. In recent years, Arsenal have won the FA Cup and have contended for the Premier League title consistently making it to the top 4 easily.

Stan Kroenke owner of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment is an American Billionaire who has invested in the Emirates Stadium as well as helping the team grow by backing Mikel Arteta to bring in new players as well. Arsenal are contending to win the Premier League as well as the UCL title this season.

9) Chelsea- $3.13 billion

The Roman Abramovich ownership era of Chelsea was extremely successful under which the Blues won multiple trophies including two UEFA Champions League titles which were arguably their best accolades. However after the UK government imposed some temporary sanctions against Russians because of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Roman was forced to sell the club and American businessmen Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital beat everyone else to the chase. Todd Boehly has some prior experience in owning sports teams since he already has ownership stakes in the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Lakers.

After acquiring the club, the new owners did not hesitate to spend money on transfers and spent a record €1 billion across three seasons to bolster the current squad strength as well as acquire new talented youngsters. The passion from the new owners is resounding however signing multiple new players has become a problem for Chelsea.

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Despite splashing so much money the squad is yet to perform at full-flow since the squad depth is so huge, it is quite difficult to find a proper and consistent starting XI. Todd Boehly is definitely looking to keep Chelsea on the list of richest soccer clubs in the world however his long-term planning and strategy are yet to be seen.

8) Tottenham Hotspurs – $3.2 billion

The ENIC Group majorly owned by The Lewis Trust Family makes them the majority shareholder of the club Tottenham Hotspurs. Daniel Levy has been the chairman of Tottenham Hotspur since 2000 and has always spent money to help the club finally achieve some trophies. Tottenham have not won a major trophy since 2006 and have come close to winning both the Premier League and UEFA Champions League on some occasions. Although, Tottenham hasn’t won any trophies and that didn’t stop them from being one of the richest soccer club.

Despite this Daniel Levy has done wonders in supporting the team constantly and providing them with the best facilities as well. Tottenham has a state-of-the-art stadium and training ground which is constantly being improved. The stadium is used for hosting soccer matches and non-soccer events such as NFL, concerts, and much more which generate a lot of income. Tottenham is fairly active in the transfer market as well with their biggest transfer in recent time being Harry Kane’s sale of over £100 million who is breaking multiple records at Bayern Munich.

7) Paris Saint-Germain – $4.4 billion

Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) acquired PSG in 2011 and started making headlines ever since. PSG was not very contentious when it came to the UEFA Champions League and the owner of QSI, Nasser Al-Khelaifi wanted to bring about that change. In order to compete with legendary historic clubs such as FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and much more, PSG spent a lot of money to attract not only young talents but also the biggest superstars.

PSG’s golden era under QSI was signing Kylian Mbappe from Monaco which was then topped by signing Neymar Jr from FC Barcelona. Together alongside other key players, they dominated domestic competitions in France and managed to bring PSG to their first UEFA Champions League final which they unfortunately lost.

The new ownership alongside signing big superstars brought about a lot of glamour to the club which in turn generated great commercial deals with giants such as Nike, Air Jordan, and Qatar Airways. Their revenue model makes PSG the third-highest revenue-generating club in Europe.

6) Bayern Munich – $5.0 billion

One of the few big and historic clubs in Europe that still ensures that the club members retain majority control. Bayern is definitely the biggest club in Germany. The titles, achievements, players produced, and sheer dominance do justice to the money spent throughout the years.

The 2023-2024 season was disappointing considering the standards that the Bavarians have. Bayern lost out on the Bundesliga last season leading to a trophy-less 2023-2024 season and will look to win trophies this season as it brings about income which further strengthens their financial solidarity.

5) Manchester City – $5.1 billion

The Premier League is investigating Manchester City for a staggering 115 charges related to breaking financial fair play rules however City’s success on and off the pitch is phenomenal. The City Soccer Group’s acquisition and success story with Manchester City is one of the best in soccer. CFG acquired Manchester City in 2011 and since then has acquired various clubs across the world in top-tier leagues such as the A-League, ISL, and much more.

CFG transformed the club exponentially bringing in new players, new facilities, and much more which in turn brought about more and more fans to the stadium. Manchester’s City commercial activities, matchday revenue, and transfer revenue increased tremendously after CFG acquired them.

In return, Manchester City’s on-the-pitch success has led them to win multiple Premier League titles which includes winning it 4 times in a row, winning the FA Cup, and winning the much desired UCL.

4) Liverpool – $5.37 billion

Fenway Sports Group acquired Liverpool in 2010 and gradually Liverpool regained their status as Premier League and UCL title contenders. The mid-2010s era was horrible for Liverpool in which despite getting new owners and signings, Liverpool will still be a mid-table team. Everything changed when FSG brought Jurgen Klopp from Dortmund to Liverpool. The introduction of Klopp bolstered with signings such as Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, and Firmino who were still not amongst the best players in the world was a master class from the management. Liverpool under Klopp won the Premier League after a trophy drought of 20 years and also won the UEFA Champions League amongst other trophies as well.

Additionally, Liverpool has become not only financially stable but better than before as well as generating great amounts of money from their commercial deals. The club’s expansion of the Anfield stadium alongside improving their AXA Training Centre is key for the long-term as well as short-term growth of the team.

3) FC Barcelona – $5.6 billion

The most famous club in the world alongside Real Madrid was definitely bound to be one of the richest soccer club in the world. Unlike many top European clubs, FC Barcelona is owned by members called ” Socios”. The club has more than 150,000 Socios. FC Barcelona used to be one of the best financially run clubs in the world until 2017 which started a chain of events causing huge financial distress for the club. The unexpected transfer of Neymar Jr caused disappointment since he was irreplaceable however the management was keen to bring in new players to fill the void left by Neymar.

The hefty transfer fees paid for acquiring Dembele, Griezzman, Coutinho, and many other players was a big failure since almost all of them could not succeed at the club. The debt kept on increasing and eventually, the club could not comply with La Liga’s Financial Fair Play rules. This led to the club letting go of their legend Lionel Messi and some other players as well as reducing the wage bill heavily.

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As of 2024, Joan Laporta has made multiple changes to generate income for the club and eventually in the long run FC Barcelona might even end up going higher on this list.

2) Manchester United – $6.55 billion

The Glazers family has faced a lot of disappointment from the Manchester United fans despite splashing so much money to improve the club. Many transfer decisions were not strategic at all leading to even more disappointment. Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s company Ineos has increased their stake further committing to a total $300 million investment.

As of 2024, the club is implementing cost-cutting measures and will gradually build up huge amounts of money to spend on the much-needed renovation of Old Trafford as well as being able to compete with other big clubs in terms of signings.

1) Real Madrid – $6.6 billion

Who else but Real Madrid? Real Madrid is the most successful and richest soccer club in the history of the sport alongside being the best managed and financially run club as well. Just like FC Barcelona, Real Madrid is also owned by Socios who elect a President to run the club. Club president Perez has run the club beautifully throughout the years securing great broadcasting as well as commercial deals alongside recovering from the pandemic losses as well. In turn, the club has done wonders winning 15 UCLs as well as 36 La Liga titles.

Real Madrid’s recent financial success was renovating the Santiago Bernabeu stadium which is now the most revolutionary and technologically advanced stadium in soccer. The stadium has fostered growth enhancing more matchday potential in sales and increasing revenue from other sources as well.