Manchester United

[JohnDoe]

I'm not worried about them signing Mata. He's not what they need. They need defenders and central midfielders.

[Alex]

I wish people would stop saying 'Hes not what they need'

Juan Mata is a player every team needs. He instantly makes you better. The only reason he is out of Chelsea is because Mourinho likes to pick on the biggest bloke and try to stamp his authority.

Him, RVP, Rooney, Vidic and Januzaj are 5 very good players. Thats the core of a brilliant team. I just hope like others he doesnt know what to do with him.

[Vermilion]

Man Utd pushed out of football rich list top three.

Manchester United has dropped out of the top three in Deloitte's football rich list for the first time.

Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich were in the first three places in Deloitte's list, which is based on revenues in the 2012-13 season.

Real Madrid, with revenues of 518.9m euros (£444.7m), topped the list for the ninth year in a row, breaking a record previously held by Man Utd.

French champions Paris Saint Germain took fifth spot in the table.

Despite falling down the pecking order, United's revenues increased from 395.9m euros to 423.8m euros.

The total combined revenue for the top 20 richest clubs rose 8% to 5.4bn euros, the report found. The list only looks at revenues accrued and does not take into account club debts.

Dan Jones, partner in Deloitte's sports business group told the BBC that the increase in revenues was due largely to commercial sources, such as "sponsorships, shirts - everything that isn't tickets and TV."

Other findings included:

Treble-winning Bayern Munich saw revenues rise by 62.8m euros (17%) to 431.2m euros

Turkish clubs Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe claimed places in the top 20

All clubs in the top 30 now generate over 100m euros in revenue each, whereas in the first list, compiled in 1996-97, only Manchester United topped this figure

Although Liverpool's revenues grew by 9%, the club fell out of the top 10 for the first time since 1999-2000

"Whilst Manchester United drop one place in the Money League, a number of the club's recent commercial deals will boost revenue in 2013-14, so this fall to fourth place may only be temporary," said Deloitte's Austin Houlihan.

"These deals, combined with the impact of the improved three-year Premier League broadcast deals from 2013-14, mean they are likely to get close to the 500m-euro revenue mark in next year's Money League.

"Beyond 2013-14, consistent qualification for the Champions League is key in United challenging to regain top spot in the Money League, a position it last held in 2003-04."

The Old Trafford club currently sits seventh in the Premier League, outside the Champions League qualification spots.
Continue reading the main story
Deloitte Football Money League

1. Real Madrid: 518.9m euros
2. Barcelona: 482.6m euros
3. Bayern Munich: 431.2m euros
4. Man Utd: 423.8m euros
5. Paris Saint Germain; 398.8m euros
6. Manchester City: 316.2m euros
7. Chelsea: 303.4m euros
8. Arsenal: 284.3m euros
9. Juventus: 272.4m euros
10. AC Milan: 263.5m euros

Source: Deloitte, Revenues in 2012-13 season

Other English clubs in the top 20 places were Manchester City (6th), Chelsea (7th), Arsenal (8th), Liverpool (12th) and Tottenham Hotspur (14th).

Paris Saint Germain has seen its revenues almost quadruple to 398.8m euros since 2010-11, and that figure includes commercial revenues of 254.7m euros.

Dan Jones from Deloitte said the strong rate of revenue growth for top European clubs showed "the enduring appetite for the world's most popular sport on the global stage".

The top 10 spots were completed by Italian giants Juventus and AC Milan.

Once again, the list was dominated by clubs from the so-called "Big Five" leagues; England's Premier League, Germany's Bundesliga, Italy's Serie A, Spain's La Liga, and France's Ligue 1.

However, as well as the two Turkish teams, Brazilian club Corinthians also made it into the top 30.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25844751

[Pablo]

That result last night, they're an absolute shambles these days

Shame it's soured by the Mata deal, but it's not done yet! It makes little to no sense to me from Chelsea's perspective:

Do they need the money? No.
Would they want to strengthen a rival? No.
Is he still a valuable squad member for them? Yes.

It's baffling. The only potential reasons for selling I can see are:

1. FFP is actually kicking in for them and they need to recoup some money.
2. They have agreed some kind of deal in return for Rooney in the summer.
3. They're actually doing this for the good of Juan Mata so he can get some game time and make the World Cup squad.
4. Mourinho really doesn't rate him at all and feels he won't make a significant improvement to Man United.

Option 3 is ludicrous as Mourinho only cares about himself. Option 2 is a bit Nicey (conspiracy theory). That leaves option 1 and 4 for me.

[Fredo]

Or Mata wants to leave. Probably the most feasible explanation.

[G]

Option one is real. They made a loss in their latest accounts and have since bought Matic, they need to balance the books, they're on thin ice regarding FFP

[Pablo]

Or Mata wants to leave. Probably the most feasible explanation.

That's got very little to do with it. Suarez wanted to leave too. So did Rooney.

[Fredo]

Aided by the fact he's not that highly rated by Mourinho. What's the point of him staying when he hardly plays? He doesn't seem to consider himself as a squad player.

[EwarWoo]

Option 3 is ludicrous as Mourinho only cares about himself. Option 2 is a bit Nicey (conspiracy theory). That leaves option 1 and 4 for me.

I'd say those combined with Mourinho writing United off as a threat. Get a bit of a buzz going, let them finish in 5th, keep Moyes in the job.

[john316]

[EwarWoo]

Best one yet.

[Roboklopp]

Much as I prefer Mata to Looney, I dont think a straight swap would strengthen Scum- especially not under Gollum.

[PTP]

shame they will sign mata cause it will give them a boost and paper over some cracks.

having rooney/rvp/mata on the pitch will beat the majority of the teams in this league regardless of what the rest of the united players are doing......

however it does put pressure on them and if it goes wrong it would be hilarious.

[Norbs]

I wish people would stop saying 'Hes not what they need'

Juan Mata is a player every team needs. He instantly makes you better. The only reason he is out of Chelsea is because Mourinho likes to pick on the biggest bloke and try to stamp his authority.

Him, RVP, Rooney, Vidic and Januzaj are 5 very good players. Thats the core of a brilliant team. I just hope like others he doesnt know what to do with him.

Spot on

[PTP]

another thing i was thinking

i think losing last night is a blessing in disguise - in a weird way

because losing in the semi, will be forgotten about in a few weeks....

however, had they got to the final i've no doubt that city would have ****ing battered them and that would have been much much worse for moyes to come back from

getting battered in a final at wembley to your big city rivals - he'd have probably got sacked