Man Utd and Liverpool both for sale: Which club is a better investment?

FT Desk

• 26 Nov 2022 17:45 GMT
• 3 min read

Fresh from making history at the 2022 World Cup, Saudi Arabia is considering making another incursion into Premier League football.

The nation's Public Investment Fund bought out Newcastle United in October 2021, and now own an 80 per cent stake in the Magpies.

But its ambitions do not end there, as they weigh up a takeover at two of the English top flight's top institutions.

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Both Manchester United and Liverpool are now up for sale, with the owners of both clubs announcing in November they would listen to bids.

And according to the Mirror, the Premier League would not intervene to keep Saudi investors away from either or even both giants.

Speaking earlier this week, Saudi Arabia's sports minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal affirmed that any private initiatives to buy the clubs would have the support of the middle-eastern nation's government.

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"From the private sector, I can't speak on their behalf, but there is a lot of interest and appetite and there's a lot of passion about football," Al Faisal explained.

"It's the most-watched league in Saudi and the region and you have a lot of fans of the Premier League. We will definitely support it if any [Saudi] private sector comes in, because we know that's going to reflect positively on sports within the kingdom.

"But if there's an investor willing to do so and the numbers add up, why not?"

Which team is the better investment?

Liverpool of course have fared much better than their rivals on the pitch as of later.

Jurgen Klopp has formed one of Europe's strongest units, and as well as lifting the league title in 2019-20 the Reds have also played three Champions League finals in the last five seasons, winning in 2020-21.

United, meanwhile, have struggled to replicate the glory days of Sir Alex Ferguson and have not won either the Premier League nor Champions League since the Scot retired in 2013.

Despite those recent woes, though, the Red Devils remain a commercial powerhouse.

The most recent Deloitte Football Money League report placed the club in fifth place in terms of revenue, having earned €558m over the preceding year.

That was United's worst result since the report began but still outstripped Liverpool, who were down in seventh with €550m in earnings over the same period.

While it may seem the teams are evenly matched United have previously topped the list on 10 occasions, suggesting that they enjoy a greater potential for returns if the Old Trafford hierarchy finally manage to turn the corner and return the club to the top of the Premier League pile.