Manchester City have endured a difficult few days on the pitch and off it, they have been handed a blow in their financial standing
Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola and Liverpool boss Arne Slot greet each other at the Etihad Stadium
Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola and Liverpool boss Arne Slot greet each other at the Etihad Stadium(Image: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
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Manchester City would have wished for a better start to the year with 2026 proving to be a tough challenge for Pep Guardiola and his team. Injuries, a defeat to Manchester United, which was swiftly followed by a loss to Bodo/Glimt and a misfiring Erling Haaland have dampened spirits among even the most positive City fans.
Now, the Blues have lost their tag of bringing in the most revenue in England. While this won't be in Guardiola's regrets when he leaves the club and most City supporters will not bat an eyelid at dropping from second to sixth in the Deloitte Football Money League, falling behind Liverpool in the process, it is significant.
It does not take a financial expert to realise that if City are bringing in less money than their rivals, it becomes more difficult to compete without the owners dipping into their own pockets. Fortunately for the Blues, their revenue is just £6m down on Liverpool's, with the Merseyside club raking in £730m compared to City's £724m in the 2024/25 season.
But is this the start of a worrying trend where Liverpool's finances will continue to rise while City fall behind? The answer is simple. No. In fact, the figures should be a sign of great optimism for the Blues.
Deloitte's analysis shows City's matchday revenue was down to a relatively small £78m, compared with Liverpool's £130m, Arsenal's £159m and United's £166m. In fact, Tottenham, Chelsea, Inter and Borussia Dortmund all managed to pull in more income on matchdays, despite finishing below the Blues in the overall rankings.
Fortunately for City, this figure should rise slightly by the end of the 2025/26 season and skyrocket in 2026/27 when the North Stand project is complete. In an update to supporters last month, City confirmed the North Stand would reopen to match-goers before the end of this campaign.
This will take the Etihad Stadium's capacity above 60,000, approximately the same as Arsenal's Emirates Stadium. While this work has been going on, attendances have been less and City have clearly seen some short-term pain in their figures.
However, these results announced by Deloitte are merely a temporary blip for the Blues as they are likely to surpass Liverpool again just through their matchday revenue returning to normal levels. But once the remainder of the work is completed at the Etihad Campus, City will be hoping they are competing with the likes of Bayern Munich, Barcelona and even perhaps Real Madrid at the top of the league.
The new fanzone, 401-bed hotel, museum, City Store and food outlets, which are all set to open later this year, will help to diversify the club's commercial revenue. Liverpool enjoyed a seven per cent increase in this sector thanks to non-matchday events at Anfield, and City will be hoping these new additions to their stadium and the surrounding Etihad Campus will pay dividends for them moving forward.
So while these results are marginally disappointing, they will be easily fixed and it should become noticeable on the books in the near future.