Manchester United overtake Real Madrid and Barcelona with biggest revenue in 2017 after huge increase

The European Club Football Landscape report said revenues among Europe's 700-odd top-flight clubs totalled €18.5bn (£16.4bn) for 2016, compared to €16.9bn the year before and €2.8bn in 1996.

However, the report acknowledged that nearly half that amount – €9.1bn (£8m) – was generated by 30 clubs and that the financial gap between the elite ones and the rest was increasing.

English Premier League television revenues were now such that mid-table Bournemouth earned the same as three-times European champions Inter Milan.

United's revenue for 2016 was €689m (£611m), compared to €521m in 2015, the report said.

United were followed by Barcelona and Real Madrid (both £550m), Bayern Munich (£525mm), Paris Saint-Germain (£480m) and Manchester City (£473m).

United's operating profit of £205m was also the highest followed by Real Madrid, PSG, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and City.

United was also burdened with the highest net debt of £497m, ahead of Benfica, Inter Milan, Juventus and Liverpool.

The report confirmed that the English Premier League enjoys by far the highest revenues in Europe, averaging £216.5m per club.

Next was Germany's Bundesliga with €132.7m per club followed by Spain (€112m) and Italy (€88.9m)

Revenues fell dramatically elsewhere, even in traditional football nations such as the Netherlands (£23.7m) and Portugal (£18m).

Greek clubs earned an average of £7.9m while figures for Eastern Europe were even lower at £4.4m for Hungary, £3.9m for Czech Republic and £1.3m for Slovenia.

"Once more, we cannot help but note that the polarisation of commercial and sponsorship revenues between the top tier of clubs and the rest is accelerating," Uefa President Aleksander Ceferin said.

"As the guardians of the game, Uefa must ensure that football remains competitive even as financial gaps are augmented by globalisation and technological change."

Uefa analyst Sefton Perry said that "only a limited number of clubs are able to fully exploit the enormous commercial opportunities offered by the global market".

Sixteen of the top 20 clubs in terms of domestic broadcast revenues were English with Manchester United top on £129.6m, edging out Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Bournemouth earned £87.8m, level with Inter Milan who, along with Juventus, were the only Serie A side in the top 20.

The report confirmed that transfer spending reached record levels of almost £5bn in the European summer of 2017, including six of the top 20 most expensive transfers ever recorded.

Arsenal were the club who made the most from paying fans. Uefa said their yield of £86.79 per spectator was the highest in Europe, followed by Chelsea, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Barcelona, Galatasaray, Manchester City and West Ham United.