Super-Rich Football Clubs – Did They Meet Our Expectations?

By: Olena

Posted: October 20, 2023

Updated: October 20, 2023

In modern football, there's a tendency to invest billions in a club to win trophies
What are the most and least successfull examples of super-rich football clubs?

Football was different back in the day, when the English Premier League was dominated by Manchester United and Arsenal, and Ligue 1 was mostly a contest between Lyon and Marseille. It was enough for a club to be managed properly to win trophies and championships. Nowadays, the situation in the EPL and Ligue 1 looks a bit different thanks to so-called super-rich football clubs. Manchester City, Chelsea, PSG, and Newcastle are the best examples of super-rich football clubs. They dominate or are expected to dominate their leagues, but not everyone succeeds despite billions of dollars.

Chelsea FC Set the Trend in the 2000s

The tide began to shift when Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003. He immediately started to invest enormous funds into the club by buying players like Didier Drogba, Petr Čech, Arjen Robben, and Ricardo Carvalho, plus invited José Mourinho to take the manager's role. As a result, Chelsea won the Premier League, League Cup, and got to the semi-finals of the Champions League in the first season after it was acquired by the Russian oligarch. Not many predicted such immediate success. A year later, they claimed another Premier League title, proving that the previous season was not a fluke; however, there were critics (especially from rival clubs) who claimed that Chelsea "bought their success", which has a lot of truth to it. Following Abramovich's example, other individuals and even countries became interested in investing into a football club. You can bet on Manchester United to be the next club acquired by the Saudi Arabian sheikhs at online sportsbooks in the UK.

Man City: Most Successful Among Super-Rich Football Clubs

In 2008, Sheikh Mansour from the UAE bought Manchester City, which would eventually become a blueprint to managing the club by very rich Arab establishments. Man City started buying players they could not afford before, and this brought inevitable success that lasts up to this day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufj8mjQTlXA&pp=ygU5TWFuIENpdHk6IE1vc3QgU3VjY2Vzc2Z1bCBBbW9uZyBTdXBlci1SaWNoIEZvb3RiYWxsIENsdWJz Before the acquisition, Manchester had not won anything since 1976 when they won the League Cup. Since 2008, almost every season has been marked with a cup or even multiple trophies. It became especially noticeable with Pep Guardiola’s arrival and his consecutive EPL titles, multiple League Cup victories, and notable successes in Europe. Experts from online gambling sites in the UK predict Man City to win the EPL every year, and 2024 is not an exception. Rival fans generally have a strong dislike towards Sky Blues for “buying” their success in a more obvious way compared to Chelsea. If one asks a Man United or a Liverpool fan if they think fondly of Man City, they will reply with a “no”. To this day, most followers of these two clubs think that their rivalry is more important and more principal than the one with Man City. With the rise of Manchester City, the term "superwealth" was coined by many independent football channels, including That's Football, Kick Off, Super 6, and others. What is also interesting, they do not criticise City for paving their way to success with money, but rather most of them claim that in modern football superwealth is the key to success. Recently, the news of possible acquisition of Manchester United by Sheikh Jassim from Qatar, had kept United fans delighted and hopeful. Sure, one can accuse fans of the Red Devils of being hypocrites for slandering City for the same thing; but it is just the way things are in modern football.

Newcastle has Potential to Become as Good as Man City

Newcastle United is also one of the clubs in the Premier League that is managed by foreign investors, mainly the Saudi Royal Family. By the way, you can read about Saudi League success to have a broader picture of the country’s influence in football. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u9UpliuZd0&pp=ygUkTmV3Y2FzdGxlOiBTdXBlci1SaWNoIEZvb3RiYWxsIENsdWJz So, the Saudi Royals bought a club that was barely hanging in the relegation zone, and guess what? In just two seasons, the Magpies reached the Champions League group stage and performed well in the EPL, claiming their spot as one of the top-10 teams. The club was bought in 2021, so it’s a bit early to overview its achievements, but it’s clear that Newcastle has potential to grow. They are interesting to watch because their managers have different examples of success (Man City) and failure (PSG). Will the Magpies follow the steps of the English mates or French club? We’ll see in 3-5 years.

What about PSG?

Although most super-rich football clubs gained success in European football, there are also not-so-successful examples of clubs under Arab management. Paris Saint-Germain is the most notable example. Yes, they stormed Ligue 1 with huge investments and ended the reign of continuous Lyon-Marseille title hassle. However, in all those years they never claimed the main European cup, i.e. Champions League. Even with players like Ibrahimovich, Beckham, Navas, Cavani, Neymar, Mbappé, Donnarumma, Ramos, and Messi, PSG never managed to win the UCL. Do they have a chance this season? Check the odds at Bet365. What is more baffling, somehow PSG even managed to lose two domestic titles to Monaco in 2017 and to Lille in 2021. They are proof that a rich investor and most famous players are not a guarantee for success, but the club itself needs to be managed by smart and competent people.