It has been widely reported today that Manchester United have dropped to 4th in the Deloitte Football Money League. Whilst Real Madrid and Barcelona were ahead of us last season, now Bayern Munich have moved a place above United too.

This is the first time that United have fallen outside the top 3 since the table was created 1996-97.

The Guardian reported: The Premier League is not the only table that will make grim reading in the Manchester United boardroom, after Deloitte’s annual Money League showed the club had been leapfrogged by Bayern Munich in terms of revenue generated.

Their initial claim, before being corrected, was: “United’s travails are not confined to the pitch as falling revenues see them leapfrogged by Bayern Munich”.

The truth of the matter is that United’s revenue is on the increase but it didn’t rise as quickly as Treble winning Bayern Munich’s did, whose revenue went up by 17%.

According to last season’s Deloitte’s table, United’s revenue has increased by £40m over the course of the year, which is huge.

“Whilst Manchester United drop one place in the Money League, a number of the club’s recent commercial deals will boost revenue in 2013-14, so this fall to fourth place may only be temporary,” said Deloitte’s Austin Houlihan. “These deals, combined with the impact of the improved three-year Premier League broadcast deals from 2013-14, mean they are likely to get close to the 500m-euro revenue mark in next year’s Money League.”

United will be relying on next season’s Champions League money to ensure they return to the top 3 though.