The 2025-26 season will end in style on Saturday with the Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal. Two clubs which have achieved great things sportingly this year. But not only that. The Parisians and the Gunners are developing their brands but also other aspects such as merchandising and their international expansion. All these efforts are bearing fruit as the two teams continue to carve out a place among the most powerful clubs on the football planet. PSG and Arsenal are both present in the ranking of the 32 most valuable clubs in the world established by the Football Benchmark institute, unveiled in preview by Marca.
Real Madrid is still the king of the world
For this eleventh edition, it is once again Real Madrid who are crowned. Despite another white season, the Merengues are at the top of this ranking of the teams with the highest corporate valuation with a total of 7.725 billion euros. This is a record valuation. Florentino Pérez can rub his hands since his club continues to evolve positively with an increase of 23% over one year. Last year, it was valued at 6.278 billion euros. The new Santiago-Bernabéu and all that it can offer at the commercial level allow the Madrilenians to rely on a real cash machine. There is a change on the second step of the podium, now occupied by FC Barcelona.
The culé club, which had not been in this place since 2022, took advantage of an increase of 33% to rise to this position with a total of 5.918 billion euros. But it is still far behind Real Madrid, which has an advance of 1.8 billion euros. Regardless, Barça can count in its ranks on Lamine Yamal, the most expensive player in the world according to Football Benchmark. The Spaniard is valued at €290 million. Second last year, Manchester City completes the podium with a total of €5.102 billion. The Skyblues are ahead of Manchester United (€5.093 billion, 4th, -1 place), Arsenal (€4.930 billion, 5th, +2 places), Bayern Munich (€4.718 billion, 6th, -1 place) and Liverpool (€4.691 billion, 7th, -1 place).
Status quo for PSG, OM and LOSC are also there
Like last year, Paris Saint-Germain is in 8th place with a total of €4.525 billion. Marca specifies that Paris experienced “a remarkable improvement in its salary efficiency following the departure of Mbappé” and that “the French club has reduced its personnel costs by more than 120 million euros and found a much more viable model”. Tottenham (€3.586 billion, 9th) and Chelsea (€3.043 billion, 10th) complete the top 10. The two London teams are in the same position as last year. For the rest, we can note that the Premier League is the most represented championship in the ranking of 32 teams. Indeed, there are 9 English teams (Newcastle, Aston Villa, West Ham are added to those already mentioned).
On the other hand, Serie A is losing ground with no representatives in the top 10. You have to go to 12th place to find Inter, which is up 25% over one year (€2.137 billion) and to 14th to find Juventus (€1.837 billion). Finally, it should be noted the entries in the top 32 of Newcastle United, Galatasaray, Feyenoord Rotterdam and LOSC. The northern club is 30th with a total of €509 million. This is less than Olympique de Marseille, which is in 24th place (€667 million, -1 place). But it’s better than Olympique Lyonnais which is no longer in the ranking for the second year in a row. The financial problems encountered by the people of Rhône certainly explain this. Paris, Marseille and Lille are part of it and are the 3 representatives of our beloved Ligue 1.
