MANCHESTER UNITED is the world's most valuable soccer club for the fourth consecutive year, with a value of $1.8 billion (€1.2 billion), topping Spain's Real Madrid, according to Forbes magazine. United's estimated operating income was $111 million, $1 million behind Real Madrid, which was valued at $1.285 billion, according to Forbes, which values the top clubs annually.
By comparison, the most valuable US professional sports team is the National Football League's Dallas Cowboys, which the magazine valued at $1.5 billion last September.
Not surprisingly, the magazine estimated British soccer star David Beckham, who plays for US-based Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy, was ranked as the highest earning player at $49 million. He previously played for both United and Real Madrid.
United are the reigning English Premier League champions and reached the European Champions League final on Tuesday. The club is owned by US businessman Malcolm Glazer, who bought the team in 2005 and also owns the US football team Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Four of the clubs in the top 10 are from the English Premier League, considered the richest soccer league in the world. The top 10 also includes two clubs each from Spain, Germany and Italy. Forbes values teams based on what they have sold for in the past relative to sales and profits, broadcast agreements and debt from new and pending stadium deals.
Rounding out the top-five list of valued soccer clubs were Arsenal (with a value of $1.2 billion), followed by Liverpool ($1.05 billion) and Bayern Munich ($917 million). The second five were AC Milan ($798 million), Barcelona ($784 million), Chelsea ($764 million), Italy's Juventus ($510 million) and Germany's Schalke 04 ($470 million).
Forbes also reported that Arsenal's Emirates stadium, completed in 2006 at a cost of $860 million with a capacity of 60,432, is a goldmine, generating $6 million a game.
That tops the $5 million a game United gets from Old Trafford, the only larger stadium in England, according to the magazine. It seats 76,000.
However, it emerged yesterday that Alisher Usmanov, Arsenal's biggest shareholder, is seeking further explanation for yesterday's surprise departure of Keith Edelman, Arsenal's managing director for the past eight years and the man who guided its move to the Emirates stadium.
The Uzbeki-born billionaire and Russian citizen was told by the club that Mr Edelman's departure was not a prelude to giving more influence to Stan Kroenke, the US billionaire sports franchise owner. He holds a 12 per cent stake in Arsenal and is building commercial and marketing links between his US assets and the club.
However, people close to Mr Usmanov, who with his business partner Farhad Moshiri owns 24 per cent of the club, say the Russian steel magnate wants to know more about the background to the sudden move.
The club's explanation in a statement to the London Stock Exchange was that Mr Edelman was leaving to seek "a fresh challenge". Arsenal insiders though said Mr Edelman had been drawing up plans for next season and had not intended to leave.
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