Aston Villa enter Forbes top 20 most valuable football teams in the world
Aston Villa are now considered one of the 20 most valuable football teams in the world according to a new list compiled by business magazine Forbes.
The Villans are placed 20th on the list which is topped by Real Madrid but dominated by the Premier League, with 11 of the teams from the English top flight.
Villa are valued at $750million [£647million], with a revenue of $236million [£203million] and sit behind Leeds United, West Ham, Leicester and Everton in the next four positions.
Owners Wes Eden and Nassef Sawiris bought the club in 2018 and under their control the club arrived back in the Premier League just three seasons ago.
The valuation is some way off the $5.1billion attached to the top side from the Santiago Bernabeu, or the $4.6billion of third-placed Manchester United, the highest of the English sides.
But notably Villa are one of just six sides on the list who are effectively debt-free.
Growth
The latest list from Forbes will be of more interest to those in the board room than in the stands but it is a signal that under the current ownership things are heading in the right direction considering how recently the Lions were a Championship side.
Ambitious plans for the stadium have only recently been announced, following on from ambitious moves in the transfer market over the summer.
It seems clear that the hierarchy are intent on bringing the club back to the top table in England, and potentially Europe, and is likely to be a source of comfort to supporters who see clubs so often hamstrung by bad ownership.
But being a valuable asset on paper is only one side of things, and certainly doesn’t signify in itself that everything is working well in practice, as the repeated protests against the Glazer family at Old Trafford, or indeed the mind-boggling financial mayhem at second-placed Barcelona demonstrates.
Indeed, amid early-season struggles on the pitch, the actual football at Villa Park has been struggling to keep up with the plans at the club of late.
Steven Gerrard has come under pressure amid a 2022 that has not seen the kind of progress that is expected after his arrival last season as a league-title winner at Rangers.
But before the postponement of matches following the death of the Queen this week (8 September) the last match saw a much-improved display gain a point against reigning champions, free-scoring Manchester City.
The 1-1 result could have even been a shock 2-1 home win were it not for an over-eager flag and subsequent whistle from Simon Hooper that ruled out Philippe Coutinho’s spectacular strike.
Had they taken all three points it would have been a major statement as the players look to right things, and fans will be hoping it was a sign of things to come when they do return to action.
In other Aston Villa news, the Brazilian star has been left out of his national squad.