Many Newcastle United fans have been reacting on social media, after the Chronicle shared that we had been ranked as the 46th-most powerful football club in the world.
That’s according to the latest Soccerex Football Finance 100 report, which ranks clubs globally each year on a number of financial aspects.
This year is the third time that Soccerex have published figures, and sees the Toon rated 46th for playing assets, tangible assets, cash in the bank, potential owner investment and net debt.
United are valued at £273.6million, while believed to have £38.2m available for future spending.
Soccerex’s valuation of the Toon is slightly below owner Mike Ashley’s long-held valuation of £300m, though more recent rumours of a buyout by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund have suggested that the Sports Direct tycoon aims to sell for just under £350m.
Will Ashley ever sell the club for more than £300m?
Yes
No
Being valued at £273.6m places the club below fellow Premier League outfits Southampton (41), West Ham United (44) and Championship promotion contenders Fulham (38), but higher than Portuguese giants SL Benfica (64), Dutch powerhouse PSV Eindhoven (67) and Serie A side Atalanta (75).
Manchester City are the highest-ranked Premier League side having come second to Paris Saint-Germain, while Bayern Munich were third, ahead of Tottenham Hotspur (4), Real Madrid (5), Arsenal (6), Chelsea (7), Liverpool (8), Juventus (9) and Borussia Dortmund (10).
Here are some of the messages shared as fans reacted to United being ranked as the 46th-most powerful football club in the world…
Money doesn’t define quality though.
— Charles Mendel (@CharlesMendel6) February 14, 2020
Great to know we’re still in the world map.
— Ginkoh_NUFC (@Ginkohro) February 14, 2020
Makes it even worse that we’re miles behind clubs like Brighton
— David Stratton (@SlothyVlogs) February 13, 2020
Now imagine where we’d be without Ashley, no ambition and 2 relegations in 13 yrs… And Ashley wants any prospective owners to take the club forward after taking us backward 🙄 #nufc
— ▓█T█O█O█N█4█L█I█F█E█▒ (@1usatoonfan) February 13, 2020
That’s another £50m added to the asking price once the FCB see that…. 👍🤬
— Toon ♉ (@solaidback69) February 13, 2020
Where would we be without the fat leach
— Steve McKenna (@SteveMcKenna_) February 13, 2020
And bottom of the ambition rankings
— AB (@_Sha_Mon_) February 13, 2020
Certainly doesn’t feel that way. Something tells me Benfica players don’t get cold baths in garbage bins.
— The Right Toon (@RightToon) February 13, 2020
In other Newcastle United news, Steve Bruce is eying the signature of a 34-cap midfielder ahead of the summer market.