The Mirror’s Simon Bird relayed the list from the accounting organisation, with United retaining top spot for revenue generated in the 2016-17 season despite playing their European football in the UEFA Europa League rather than the more lucrative UEFA Champions League.

Here are the top 20 clubs, all of whom reside in Europe:

1. Manchester United, £581.2 million (up from £515.3 million in 2015-16)

2. Real Madrid, £579.7 million (£463.8 million)

3. Barcelona, £557.1 million (£463.8 million)

4. Bayern Munich, £505.1 million (£442.7 million)

5. Manchester City, £453.5 million (£392.6 million)

6. Arsenal, £419 million (£350.4 million)

7. Paris Saint-Germain, £417.8 million (£389.6 million)

8. Chelsea, £367.8 million (£334.6 million)

9. Liverpool, £364.5 million (£302 million)

10. Juventus, £348.6 million (£253.5 million)

11. Tottenham Hotspur, £305.6 million (£209.2 million)

12. Borussia Dortmund, £285.8 million (£212.3 million)

13. Atletico Madrid, £234.2 million (£171 million)

14. Leicester City, £233 million (£128.7 million)

15. Inter Milan, £225.2 million (£134 million)

16. Schalke, £197.8 million (£167.9 million)

17. West Ham United, £183.3 million (£143.8 million)

18. Southampton, £182.3 million (£124.3 million)

19. Napoli, £172.5 million (£107.8 million)

20. Everton, £171.2 million (£121.5 million)

The top 20 earned a combined revenue of £6.8 billion, with half of them comprised of Premier League clubs who benefit from the record £3.8 billion broadcasting deal, which have been included in the figures for the first time.

United had announced their finances for 2016-17 in September, per Rob Harris of the Associated Press:

According to Deloitte (h/t Bird), the Red Devils were only able to retain top spot by winning the Europa League, which netted them £44 million.

Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said:

“At the top, we’ve seen the closest ever battle for the top spot, with Manchester United pipping Real Madrid to retain their title of the highest revenue generating club in the world.

“United’s ability to retain first position is all the more impressive against the backdrop of the weakened pound against the euro, and with both Real Madrid and Barcelona forecasting further revenue growth in 2017/18, the battle at the top will likely come down to on-pitch performance again next year.

“With all three clubs through to the Round of 16 of the Champions League, it may be as simple as the club that goes furthest in the competition will have the best chance of topping the Money League next year.”

AC Milan failed to feature in the top 20 for the first time, while PSG are France’s only representatives, despite Monaco winning Ligue 1 and reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League last season.

The remaining nine spots are divided equally between La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga, with three representatives apiece.

–

credit: Bleacherreport

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Martial curled the ball into the net from the edge of the area to break the deadlock before Lingard also bent a shot beyond Jordan Pickford from distance.

Juan Mata hit a post for United while Oumar Niasse spurned Everton’s best chances.

The win ends United’s run of three straight draws, while Everton, now without a win in four, stay ninth.

United looked to be close to their best in the second half, with Paul Pogba providing the assists for both goals.

Lingard’s stunning strike was his seventh in the league this season, all scored in nine appearances since 28 November.

–

Source: BBC

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Tottenham beat Southampton 5-2 to begin Boxing Day in style and there were plenty of goals in the 3pm games, too.

BOURNEMOUTH 3-3 WEST HAM
A controversial stoppage-time goal salvaged a 3-3 draw for Bournemouth against West Ham in a thrilling Premier League encounter at Dean Court.

Callum Wilson was credited with the Cherries’ third after he had the final touch as Nathan Ake headed goalwards. There was a suspicion of offside and handball but referee Bobby Madley eventually awarded the equaliser after a lengthy conversation with assistant Simon Long.

Wilson’s disputed effort cancelled out a brace from Hammers forward Marko Arnautovic that had David Moyes’ travelling side expecting victory.

CHELSEA 2-0 BRIGHTON
Alvaro Morata returned from suspension to ignite Chelsea’s 2-0 Premier League victory over Brighton at Stamford Bridge.

Morata was unavailable for the goalless draw at Everton three days previously but his firepower inspired the champions following a lifeless first half that saw a number of fine chances wasted.

It was a familiar sight that broke the deadlock as the Spain striker combined with international team-mate Cesar Azpilicueta, nodding home the full-back’s pinpoint cross a mere 40 seconds after the interval.

Alonso nodded in the second from Fabregas’ delivery.

HUDDERSFIELD 1-1 STOKE
Tom Ince’s first Premier League goal since February 2014 was cancelled out by Ramadan Sobhi’s second in four days as Huddersfield and Stoke drew 1-1.

Ince, who last registered a top-flight goal with Crystal Palace, finally ended his drought with his 45th shot in the division this season in the 10th minute.

MANCHESTER UNITED 2-2 BURNLEY
Jesse Lingard came off the bench to spare Man United a Boxing Day defeat at the hands of Burnley, scoring twice to rescue a 2-2 draw for Jose Mourinho’s side.

Lingard answered a half-time SOS call with United staring down the barrel at 2-0 down, but pulled one back with an instinctive back-heel before striking through a packed box in added time to cap a frantic finale.

WATFORD 2-1 LEICESTER
Watford came from behind to beat Leicester 2-1 and seal a first Premier League victory in seven games.

A tap-in from Molla Wague and an own goal from Kasper Schmeichel cancelled out Leicester forward Riyad Mahrez’s opener.

The victory was a first for Marco Silva’s side since a 3-0 success at Newcastle on 25 November.

WEST BROM 0-0 EVERTON
Wasteful West Brom extended their winless run to 18 games after failing to find a way through against Everton.

Salomon Rondon and Craig Dawson missed golden chances as the Baggies were held to a goalless draw at The Hawthorns, with boss Alan Pardew still looking for his first win after six attempts.

They will go half a season without a Premier League victory if they fail to beat Arsenal at home on Sunday and Pardew’s side are three points from the safety line. Sam Allardyce, meanwhile, is unbeaten as Everton manager.

–

Source: TalkSport

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The Portuguese confirmed Jones is unavailable for Manchester United’s game against Newcastle on Saturday, after a recurring thigh injury forced him to come off 25 minutes into England’s friendly against Germany which ended 0-0 last Friday.

Jones had played with the injury in crucial games against Tottenham and Chelsea, but Mourinho was left shocked by the decision of Gareth Southgate and the England medical staff to allow him to play in a friendly while recovering from injury.

Phil Jones went off injured during England’s friendly against Germany

A host of England players dropped out of Southgate’s squad for the friendlies against Germany and Brazil through injury, which sparked talk of a club versus country row.

“As a manager, since 2000, in 17 years I don’t have one single player that has injections of anaesthetic to play a friendly. Never,” Mourinho told reporters.

“I’m not an angel and I’ve had players to be injected to play official matches and crucial matches.

“To get six injections of local anaesthetic to play a friendly, I have never heard about it and Phil Jones had it.

Mourinho was left angered by Gareth Southgate’s decision to give Jones six injections to play in a friendly match

“He had it before the match and, after fifteen minutes, he was out and obviously Saturday he is out.”

Sources close to the England camp insist Jones received treatment in line with usual medical practices but did confirm the player received a number of injections before the game.

When asked whether he had spoken to Southgate, Mourinho replied: “No, I’m just telling a fact. He was injected in the afternoon of the match, he didn’t feel good during the warm-up.

“Between the warm-up and the start of the match he had five more local injections to play the friendly.”

–

Source: Sky Sports

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The 38-year-old’s move into the ring is being backed by betting company Betfair, which announced the news on Tuesday.

Former Manchester United and England defender Ferdinand works as a TV pundit and he has his own clothing line.

“I’m doing this because it’s a challenge,” he said. “I’ve won titles and now I’m aiming for a belt.”

He has posted several social media videos in recent months showing him boxing and working with personal trainer Mel Deane.

Ferdinand, who won the Premier League six times and the Champions League once during his time in Manchester, may follow in the footsteps of former Birmingham City midfielder Curtis Woodhouse and former Crystal Palace forward Leon McKenzie, who became professional boxers after quitting football. Woodhouse became British super-lightweight champion.

Former England cricket captain Andrew Flintoff also launched a boxing career after retiring, winning his only pro bout in December 2012 against American Richard Dawson at Manchester Arena on points.

It was Betfair who approached Ferdinand about making the switch, and the betting company will help him qualify for his British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC) licence before he begins training and competing.

The company previously backed Victoria Pendleton in her transition from Olympic cyclist to Cheltenham jockey.

“When Betfair approached me about the challenge, the chance to prove myself in a new sport was a real draw,” Ferdinand added.

BBBC general secretary Robert Smith said they had not yet received an application from Ferdinand for a boxer’s licence.

“I was completely surprised,” he said. “We don’t have an application, so there’s nothing to consider. Nor have we had any conversation with anybody regarding this.”

‘It’s laughable… he could get himself badly hurt’

Ferdinand will be coached by Team GB coach and former WBC super-middleweight champion Richie Woodhall.

“In all honesty, I think Rio can definitely box as a professional given time. He has natural power in his right hand, is extremely fit and is very enthusiastic to learn which is encouraging,” Woodhall said.

“Style wise, he’s very raw and I’ll have to develop this, which will take time, but he has all the natural ingredients, height and reach advantages over boxers in his weight division and definitely has potential to win a title in the future.”

The former centre-back started his career with West Ham and also played for Leeds and QPR, making more than 500 career club appearances. He was capped 81 times for England.

Woodhouse told BBC Radio 5 live he was “shocked” to hear of Ferdinand’s career change.

“When it came up on my Twitter feed that Rio Ferdinand was going to become a professional boxer I thought I’d been hacked,” he said. “It’s not something you read every day is it?

“I’ve been retired three years myself and one thing I missed – and he’s probably going through himself at the minute – is the competitiveness of being an athlete.

“Once that’s taken away from you it’s very, very difficult to replace it, so that’s probably what he’s chasing – to get that competitiveness back in his life.”

Promoter Barry Hearn said he thought there was only a 50/50 chance that Ferdinand would receive a boxing licence, and told BBC Radio 5 live: “It’s laughable. I like Rio, don’t get me wrong, but this is an advert for a reality TV show.

“If Tony Bellew, David Haye or Anthony Joshua hit Rio Ferdinand it would probably be prosecutable by the police for using a deadly weapon. He could get himself badly hurt.

“It’s OK if it’s just a bit of fun, making a TV show and making some money. I wish him luck, I hope he enjoys it but be very careful because it’s dangerous.

“He could get badly hurt and no promoter is going to sanction that. He’s being totally naive and underestimating boxing.”

–

Source: BBC Sport

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Manchester City and Manchester United have enjoyed strong starts to their league campaigns with four wins and a draw in their first five games.

Both sides have been very prolific up front and have conceded just two goals each so far this season.

City thrashed in-form Watford 6-0 at Vicarage Road on Saturday while Man Utd scored only two fewer against Everton on Sunday, with both games live on Citi 97.3 FM.

Their main rivals, on the other hand, have endured mixed starts to the season – Chelsea have dropped five points already this season, Liverpool and Tottenham seven and Arsenal eight.

Everton, who were expected to present a serious challenge to the top six have not managed a win this season, the latest game ending in the disappointing loss to United as part of Citi FM‘s #EPLRoadshow.

According to Mr. Butcher, the two Manchester clubs’ strong start to the season makes them clear favourites for the title while Chelsea’s foray into European competition might hamper a title challenge.

“Manchester City are very strong; very strong in Europe. Last year Chelsea won the title because – and this was one of the main reasons they won it – they weren’t playing in Europe. Now they are so I think that will hurt them,” he told Citi Sports after the FutureStars Schools’ Sports Festival at the Tema Sports Stadium on Saturday.

“I just see Manchester City and Manchester United being the two frontrunners for the title this year and not Arsenal, Liverpool or Everton. Maybe Spurs but it’s really a two-horse race in Manchester. In a way, it’s good because it’s one of the best Premier League [seasons] because it’s pretty wide open.”

[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]The FutureStars Schools Project seeks to encourage children to stay in school through the power of sport. The Programme is a holistic approach to human development. This year’s festival was the fourth edition and aimed to engage young people in sport and education to enhance their lives by encouraging the children to go to school using the power of football and sports in general.[/box]

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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Arsenal needed to bounce back from two consecutive league defeats and gave the Emirates faithful plenty to cheer about in the first half against the Cherries. A woeful defensive performance from Eddie Howe’s troops saw Danny Welbeck and Alexandre Lacazette give the Gunners the easiest of 2-0 leads at the break.

Welbeck got his second of the game five minutes into the second half to confirm the win for the north London outfit and heap further pressure on Howe, with his side without a single point on the board and only one goal to their name in the new campaign.

Brighton 3-1 West Bromwich Albion

Pascal Gross scored Brighton’s first ever goal in the Premier League – and their first top flight goal in 34 years – to give the hosts a lead that West Brom may have felt undeserved. No one at the Amex could have argued against the final result, though, with Gross later adding a second and Tomer Hemed a third.

A late goal from James Morrison would have injected a few nerves into the home crowd, but while the Baggies did create more chances, there were few signs of a genuine comeback from the visitors.

Everton 0-3 Tottenham Hotspur

It looked as though Tottenham would find three points difficult to seal at Goodison Park after an even beginning to the game, before Harry Kane miss-hit a cross to catch Jordan Pickford off-guard and open the scoring. Christian Eriksen doubled their lead close to half-time to confirm what would be a difficult afternoon for the Toffees.

And just seconds after the restart Kane latched onto a cross into the box from Ben Davies to secure a 3-0 victory and no doubt leave Ronald Koeman worried over the poor run of form his Everton side have hit.

Leicester City 1-2 Chelsea

Alvaro Morata is proving more than capable of filling Diego Costa’s boots. Leicester’s defenders marked the Spaniard well for much of the first half, but the striker finally got the better of Wes Morgan late on in the opening 45 minutes, heading in from close range to give Chelsea the lead.

N’Golo Kante was the unlikely goal scorer in the opening few minutes of the second period, and while a Jamie Vardy penalty suggested a comeback could be on for Leicester, the Blues were well worth the three points.

Southampton 0-2 Watford

Southampton have been short on confidence in front of goal and predictably struggled against a Watford team whose defence has proved tough to break down this season.

Watford were patient in opening the scoring, with Abdoulaye Doucoure’s 20-yard strike in the 38th minute the difference at the break.

The Saints failed to lift their game and only seconds after his introduction to the field, a 25-yard drive from Daryl Janmaat nestled in the bottom-left corner 66 minutes in and was all that was needed to seal the win.

Mauricio Pellegrino’s men left the field at the final whistle to a chorus of boos and there will be plenty fearful of how their season could progress if their form doesn’t soon improve.

–

Source: TalkSport

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The Scot was sacked by United in 2014 – less than a season after being chosen to replace club legend Sir Alex Ferguson.

He said the club had “tended to pick British managers” and never felt the need to impose themselves in the transfer market.

“I can say that’s gone,” added Moyes.

“There have been a few changes at Manchester United but that’s the way they have chosen to go.”

United have spent £480m since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 after 26 years as manager.

They broke their club record in January 2014 by signing midfielder Juan Mata from Chelsea for £37.1m – a deal done under Moyes, and spent a British record £59.7m on Real Madrid winger Angel Di Maria later that year, after Dutchman Louis van Gaal took over.

In August this year, they gave new boss Jose Mourinho a world record £89m to sign midfielder Paul Pogba from Juventus.

“They were a football club who enjoyed traditions with the way they spent,” said Moyes, who returns to Old Trafford as a manager on Boxing Day, with relegation-threatened Sunderland, for the first time since he was sacked.

“They didn’t try to compete with all the other clubs. They did what they thought was the right thing to do and spent the right way.

“Maybe that has had to change because of the current situation. [But] Sir Alex [Ferguson] went out and bought wisely and correctly in the transfer market and what he thought he needed to do.”

Moyes repeated a claim that he was “definitely unfairly treated” by not being given enough time and also confirmed that the club missed out on a number of major transfers during his short tenure – including Real Madrid and Wales forward Gareth Bale, Madrid team-mate Toni Kroos and Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

“When I first went in my real target was Gareth Bale,” said Moyes. “I felt all along that Gareth Bale was a Manchester United player.

“I fought right until the last minute. We actually offered a bigger deal than Real Madrid. But Gareth had his mind made up on going to Real Madrid. That was, in my mind, the player I really wanted to bring to Manchester United.

“The other one was Cesc Fabregas, who we thought we would get right up until the last minute.

“I remember when I first met Sir Alex and he always said there was a chance Ronaldo might come back.

“So that was the level we were targeting. I was not going out to bring in seven, eight players, because we had a squad which had just won the league.

“Toni Kroos was agreed to come in the summer. I had agreed it with Toni himself and his agent. Sometimes you don’t get deals done. Gareth Bale, we were probably behind all along, Real Madrid were well in for it.

“The Cesc one was disappointing. It was very close. And Toni Kroos came up in January – it was done.

“A lot of players come into Manchester United and have not necessarily made the difference. But I think that, given time and having got to this period, I would have hoped I would be working with a successful team now.”

–

Source: BBC

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Wayne Rooney, Marouane Fellaini, Daley Blind and Michael Carrick arrived at the AON training complex in Carrington as United prepared for the EFL Cup trip to Northampton on Wednesday.

After a disappointing run that has seen them fall six points behind Manchester City, Jose Mourinho will be looking to find reasons for United’s loss of form.

Is it a case of tactical systems, players not performing, or simply the fact that with four new signings his team need time to knit together?

Or perhaps they just aren’t running enough.

According to a league table of the distance covered by every Premier League side, United are the laziest side in the division, running less far than every other side.

In fact, over the last five games United’s squad have covered exactly 55 kilometres less than rivals Liverpool – enough for them to get to Anfield from Old Trafford.

PREMIER LEAGUE DISTANCE TABLE

Team                                              Distance (km)

1              Liverpool                                               581.6

2              Manchester City                                570.7

3              Tottenham                                          565.9

4              Burnley                                                563.9

5              West Brom                                          562.9

6              Arsenal                                                556.4

7              Middlesbrough                                  554.6

8              Bournemouth                                    549.4

9              Southampton                                     545.1

10           Leicester                                              544.8

11           Swansea                                                543.2

12           Everton                                                541.2

13           West Ham                                            539.5

14           Chelsea                                                 539.4

15           Watford                                                 539.1

16           Stoke                                                      536.4

17           Hull                                                        536.3

18           Crystal Palace                                       533.9

19           Sunderland                                           526.7

20           Manchester United                             526.6

Jurgen Klopp’s men have run the furthest in the league, a remarkable 11km more than the next best, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, with Tottenham in third.

Premier League new-boys Burnley are next up, just 2km behind Spurs, with Tony Pulis’ West Brom, who beat West Ham 4-2 last weekend with only 30 per cent of possession, in fifth.

It’s not all about running stats though. Everton have had a brilliant start to life under Ronald Koeman, and are second in the table, but have only run the 12th furthest, while Chelsea, in fifth, are 40km short of Liverpool’s distance and are down in 14th.

However, David Moyes will not be pleased to see that his Sunderland outfit, who are yet to win and surely need to be showing every sign of great effort to get out of a relegation scrap yet again, are 19th in both the league table and the running stats.

Hull, who have played the same starting XI in each of their five games so far, also seem to be showing signs of struggling to keep up the pace, languishing in 17th – but they have still covered almost 10km more than United.

It comes as Mourinho admits his players are feeling the pressure of their losing streak.

Speaking in The Mirror he said: ‘At 10.30 in the morning, we have a training session and we have to be there. They have to work.

‘They have to show themselves with a certain kind of attitude towards negative moments.

‘I show them, as an example, Ashley Young who was, in my opinion phenomenal with his attitude, positivity and determination.

‘We need positive people to give us a positive feeling because next time these boys are going onto a football pitch they are going to feel, obviously as normal human beings, the weight of the defeats.’

Source: Daily Mail

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