The Red Devils may have seen their revenues drop in 2014-15 but they are set to cash in like no club has ever known thanks to new commercial and broadcasting deals

A drop from second to third cannot normally be dressed up as anything but regression, but Manchester United’s returns in the latest Deloitte Football Money League release show the basis for potential revenue figures to come.

The 2016 chart shows revenues gained during the 2014-15 season which saw United sit out the money-laden Champions League, yet the relative losses were nothing like those that many might have anticipated. Still outdoing the likes of Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, it is clear that the Red Devils have their house very much in order financially.

It should be noted that in real terms United earned £38m less in revenue than over the previous 12 months, yet the success of the pound against the euro means that their relative losses were wiped out by the UK’s growing economy.

Yet their record £47 million per-year sponsorship deal with General Motors’ Chevrolet brand also helped to plug the gap caused by a lack of European football, with solidarity payments from Uefa for their run in 2013-14 having brought in around £34.5m (€44.75m).

 

The real success story for United lies in what is to come. The Adidas kit deal which came into effect last summer, and which will begin to show in Football Money League records from January 2017, is worth up to £750m over a 10-year term. That also represents a phenomenal mark-up on other deals with manufacturers around the top end of the game.

And when the new Premier League TV rights deal begins at the start of the 2016-17, United’s financial might compared to the rest of Europe will only grow. In a brave new world in which even Liverpool and Chelsea could boast revenues to rival Real Madrid and Barcelona, there is no doubting that the 20-time champions of England will start to burst clear of the pack on the balance sheets.