The values of most teams in the English Premiership has depreciated over the last season with no real stand out super star players boosting the squads valuations. One could argue Manchester United have hit rock bottom and even now is still way over valued for what players they have. One could argue they should only be keeping one or two players and should be moving every one on which we all know should have happened 10 years ago already and is way over due. This tells us they have not hit rock bottom yet and next season will be crucial depending on what happens this year.
Football is big business on and off the field and what I find very worrying is how few clubs are actually successful. If you consider last season a club like Arsenal posted a record breaking revenue of $717m for 2023-24 yet still only made a $900,000 operating profit. Less than 10% of all football clubs in Europe make a profit and most are heavily in debt which gives a false sense of success when looking at the books.
Today there was an article about Manchester United and the job losses via redundancies within the club totaling more than 200 job cuts. The scary thing is even if Manchester United were performing being at the top of the table do you need all these people on the books? What is happening at United should be happening across the board at all the clubs trimming the fat making for a healthier business model. f your club is well run then everyone knows where they stand financially. Gone are the days of teams just turning up expecting a win and the performance of the entire club is reflected on the pitch.
A club like Real Madrid was the first club to surpass $1 billion in revenue last season, but that is also misleading as they like many clubs have sold off their marketing rights which will impact future earnings as these are not solely their own to keep. This is kind of crazy ad sort sighted as it is like you are selling off future growth for short term financial benefits.
Manchester United could easily have gone down that route as they are still considered a football power house in the sport even tough the team is languishing in 5th spot on the table. Currently 15th spot will see the team earn around $20 million which is way less than the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal who will receive in the region of $60 million plus each excluding the television payouts for hosting live games.
This season we have seen the drop off in Manchester City's success and this is going to hit hard for next season on what the club can spend with regard to financial fair play. You have to remain at the top winning your domestic and European tournaments if you want to continue spending buying the big signing players.
If one looks at the above table it is interesting to note the clubs that are not necessarily performing on the pitch but are still maintaining their squad values. Tottenham (Spurs) have been injury ravaged this season and are down in 12th but have maintained their overall value. It is just Manchester United really who are suffering from poor player purchases through desperation due to a lack of success on the field.
Clubs like Brighton are thriving in the Premiership as this club is being run
as a proper business and they constantly sell their players for profit. Each season they somehow buy the right players at the right price and sell off those players that they have nurtured. Academies was where the big money was made and what set the clubs apart from what future players were coming through the ranks.