Liverpool Named World’s Eighth Most Valuable Football Club

Liverpool hold on to their position as the eighth most valuable football club in the world for another year according to Forbes, who have released the 14th edition of their rankings today. England, meanwhile, continue to dominate the top ten, with the Premier League’s top six all making the cut.

The only real surprise in this year’s edition of the list is that Manchester United, largely on the strength of a boost to squad investment following the arrival of José Mourinho, have managed to leapfrog the Spanish giants into first despite their continuing struggles to adjust to life after Alex Ferguson.

In addition to Barcelona and Real Madrid, who finish second and third respectively, there is room on the list for Bayern Munich in third before the English sides dominate the rest of the way, with a run of Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham broken only by Juventus at ninth.

Liverpool’s hold on eighth in the money list remains secure despite a 4% decrease in adjudged value, as it has through much of Fenway Sports Group’s ownership, as the Reds exist on a level of their own—worth a quarter billion more than Juventus in ninth and a third of a billion behind Chelsea in seventh.

Less value separates Juventus from tenth place Tottenham, and the same is true for Chelsea from Arsenal in sixth and City in fifth before Forbes’ valuation takes another giant leap to Bayern Munich in fourth and again to the top three, who exist in a league of their own as far as Forbes is concerned.

According to Forbes’ breakdowns of sponsorship value and other revenue, regular Champions League participation would likely see Liverpool solidly amidst Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester City, with at least a chance of overtaking any or even all of them and climbing as high as fifth.

Outside the top ten things get a little more varied, though there’s still room for West Ham in 15th and, rather surprisingly, Leicester City in 19th. That the Foxes make the top twenty ahead of any other club in England may, for some at least, cast doubt on the validity of Forbes’ methodology.