Man Utd vs Real Madrid: clash of the financial titans
Manchester United and Real Madrid face off in a battle of the two financial titans of world sport – so how do they compare?
The match will be seen by many as a clash of two of the top managers in the world, Sir Alex Ferguson versus “the special one” Jose Mourinho, or indeed a clash of two of the best attacking footballers in the world, Robin van Persie versus Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, underpinning the dominance of two of the top teams in international club football is a different battle – the battle for revenues. Real Madrid top the “Football Money League”, compiled by accountacy firm Deloitte with revenues in 2012 of £433m – higher than the gross national income of Caribbean tax haven St Kitt’s and Nevis.
Manchester United is third in the list with revenues of £317m. The extent to which Sir Alex Ferguson is bothered that his clubs revenues only surpass those of St Kitts’ smaller neighbour Dominica is unknown.
The amount of money the clubs spend is also enormous. Ronaldo became the most expensive footballer in history when he was sold by Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2009 for £80m. Manchester United, it could be argued, is more careful with its money – Robin Van Persie was bought for £22.5m last year.
In the last two seasons Manchester United has spent more than £100m on player transfers.
Real Madrid will be hosting Manchester United at the Bernabeu stadium, with a capacity of 85,454, with a kick off at 7:45pm.