Is the L1 an obstacle to the development of French clubs? Not necessarily according to the study of the economic magazine Forbes which places PSG and Olympique Lyonnais among the three clubs that value the most in one year. With a 32% increase in one year, PSG is the largest increase for a football club in the world's top 20. The club of the capital is valued at 4.2 billion dollars (nearly 3.8 billion euros), the 7th place in the overall ranking. "This is the first time in its history that the club has crossed the $4 billion mark in valuation in an evaluation by a third-party organization," said Paris.
For its part, Lyon grew by 47% thanks to the takeover of the club by American businessman John Textor, via his investment fund Eagle Football. Olympique Lyonnais is now worth 668 million euros and occupies 26th place in the ranking. The top 30 depreciates slightly from one season to another (with an average per club that goes from 2.4 billion euros to 2 billion), but the top 20 progresses by 14%.
The English Newcastle, who have changed ownership for a very rich sovereign fund of Saudi Arabia, see their value increase most significantly in 2023, to 745 million euros, while conversely, two other English clubs show the largest declines, at -16% (to 733 million euros) for Leicester City (who have just been relegated from the Premier League), and -21% (to €698 million) for the Everton Toffees maintained in extremis in the Premier League last Sunday. Unsurprisingly, Real Madrid, which weighs 5.7 billion euros, is the most expensive football club in the world in 2023, ahead of Manchester United (5.6 billion euros) which is progressing in the hierarchy to now overtake FC Barcelona, at 5.2 billion euros.
The ranking of the 30 most expensive football clubs in the world in 2023 according to Forbes:
1. Real Madrid: $6.07 billion
2. Manchester United: $6 billion
3. FC Barcelona: $5.51 billion
4. Liverpool: $5.29 billion
5. Manchester City: $4.99 billion
6. Bayern Munich: $4.86 billion
7. PSG: $4.21 billion
8. Chelsea: $3.21 billion
9. Tottenham: $2.8 billion
10. Arsenal: $2.26 billion
11. Juventus: $2.16 billion
12. Borussia Dortmund: $1.93 billion
13. Atletico Madrid: $1.54 billion
14. AC Milan: $1.4 billion
15. West Ham: $1.08 billion
16. Inter: $1.03 billion
17. Los Angeles FC: $1 billion
18. Los Angeles Galaxy: $925M
19. Atlanta United: $850M
20. Crystal Palace: $806M
21. New York City: $800 million
22. Newcastle: $794M
23. Leicester: $781M
24. Aston Villa: $756 million
25. Everton: $744 million
26. Olympique Lyonnais: $734 million
27. Roma: $724M
28. DC United: $700M
29. Toronto FC: $690M
30 Austin FC: $680 million