Manchester United have endured a number of turbulent seasons following the retirement of their legendary manager Alex Ferguson. However, the arrival of manager Jose Mourinho as well as the signing of world-beaters such as Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic could spell the beginning of a triumphant return. A potential sign of this is how they are back as the highest-earning side in world football.
United are currently sitting in sixth place in the Premier League and although a title run is highly unlikely, they can still mount a challenge for a spot in next year's European competitions. They are not doing that poorly in domestic cup competitions either, as the Red Devils recently moved on to the EFL Cup final 3-2 on aggregate, even after succumbing to a shock 2-1 loss against Hull City. They are also still in the running for this season's FA Cup, coming into the competition as defending champions.
Despite these fairly average performances from a side as big as Manchester United, they have raked in £587 million ($737 million) and overthrown Real Madrid as the football club with the highest revenue across every league in the world. Also surprising is how they managed to edge out a Barcelona side, which has the likes of Luis Suarez, Neymar, and Messi among their ranks.
This news did not come as a shock to many analysts, as Premier League clubs largely benefitted from their highly lucrative television deals. A prime example of this is Leicester City, who capped off an unexpected title-winning campaign by generating five times as much revenue in their 2015/16 season compared to their earnings back in 2013/14, according to Deloitte. There is even a chance that every Premier League side will soon be in the top 30 thanks to this deal.
The Premier League may face an obstacle though in the form of the Chinese Super League, with the latter splashing large amounts of cash to sign some of the world's best players. The Chinese league has been able to sign the likes of Oscar, Carlos Tevez, and Axel Witsel in this transfer window alone.
Despite this, a number of Chinese investors have decided to direct their money to the already established English top flight instead, according to the Sun. With the type of money that these investors could bring in, fans could potentially see United and other English clubs dominating Europe once more within the next couple of years.
Watch the highlights of Manchester United's 4-0 over Wigan Athletic in this season's FA Cup in the video below: