Staff Writer 
By David Hellier, Bloomberg
Premier League champion Arsenal climbed the latest Football Benchmark ranking of European club valuations, narrowing the gap with Manchester United and Manchester City.
The researcher boosted the North London team’s value 23% from a year ago to €4.9 billion ($5.7 billion), lifting it two spots on the table to fifth, only trailing the Manchester clubs in England.
The valuations are based on financial data from the 2024-25 season, so they don’t include the expected revenue lift from Arsenal winning its first league title in 22 years last week. The club also plays in the final of the Champions League on Saturday, giving it more fuel to move higher in the rankings.
Arsenal is just behind Manchester United, valued at €5.1 billion, and closer to the financial level traditionally occupied by the two Manchester clubs. Manchester United, long regarded as English football’s richest team, has fallen outside the top three for the first time since Football Benchmark began compiling rankings in 2016.
Real Madrid remains Europe’s most valuable football club, with its enterprise value rising more than 20% to €7.7 billion. The Spanish club is comfortably ahead of Barcelona, valued at €5.9 billion, underlining the widening financial gap between the two La Liga rivals.
The rankings include nine Premier League clubs among Europe’s top 32, more than any other league. Italy is next with seven. New entrants include Newcastle United, Galatasaray, Feyenoord and LOSC Lille.
Arsenal’s valuation growth has been underpinned by broad-based revenue gains, particularly in commercial and other income streams, according to Football Benchmark. The club’s squad value also increased by €246 million.
Over the past decade, Arsenal’s enterprise value has risen nearly 200%, outpacing Real Madrid and other clubs at the top of the table.
However, Arsenal’s long-term growth remains below Paris Saint-Germain’s gain of more than 400%, which has been supported by the backing of Qatar Sports Investments and Arctos Partners. PSG is Arsenal’s opponent in the Champions League Final.
PSG is eighth in Football Benchmark’s table despite playing in a relatively small 48,000-capacity stadium. To make up for that, it generates one of the highest average revenues per seat at €147, compared with €101 at Arsenal.
Football Benchmark said Arsenal’s enterprise value has almost tripled over the past decade, helped by substantial revenue growth and maintaining cost control. The club is owned by US billionaire Stan Kroenke, whose sports portfolio also includes the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams.
“In recent years, Arsenal has seen massive growth in terms of revenues and squad value,” said Andrea Sartori, founder and chief executive officer of Football Benchmark.
The outlook is less positive for Chelsea, Arsenal’s London rival. The club’s enterprise value stands at about €3 billion, but the team’s growth, relative to its peers, has been constrained by weaker profitability.
“Chelsea’s outlook isn’t great,” Sartori said. “It’s very hard to imagine an improvement in Chelsea’s enterprise valuation in the short term.”
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