United drop in wealth stakes

The gloom surrounding Manchester United’s current predicament may deepen further after the club dropped out of the top three of Europe’s top-earning clubs for the first time.

United are now fourth in the Deloitte Football Money League behind leaders Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich based on 2012/13 season income.

The money table has been compiled by Deloitte since 1997, and for the first eight years United were the biggest-earning club in the world only to be overtaken by first Real Madrid, then Barcelona and now Bayern, thanks in part to the German side’s remarkable treble-winning season.