Real Madrid, Man Utd, Barcelona and Arsenal - what does UEFA report tell us?

Real Madrid signed Gareth Bale for a world record fee in 2013

We take a look at some of the key findings from UEFA's Club Licensing Benchmark Report, which analyses the financial development of club football around Europe.

The report focuses on data from the financial year ending 2014 and looks at the impact of Financial Fair Play, revenue among the top clubs in Europe, gate receipts, spending, wages and much more.

Here are some of the top figures and facts from the 117-page report…

Impact of Financial Fair Play

Losses have reduced since Financial Fair Play regulations were introduced in 2011, according to UEFA's report.

Perhaps the standout statistic from the report is that clubs have cut their losses by two-thirds since the introduction of Financial Fair Play.

Losses that were recorded at an aggregate of €1,670m in 2011 dropped to €486m in the financial year ending 2014 - a €1,184m reduction.

In addition, the number of loss-making clubs has dropped significantly from three years ago.

In 2011 there were 35 clubs operating with losses of more than €30m; there are now just 14.

Premier League pays out

England leads the way in terms of wages, with clubs paying on average almost double that of German teams according to the UEFA report.

Even though Real Madrid and Barcelona are in the top three for highest-wage bills across Europe, the Premier League leads the way by some distance when it comes to average club wages.

The average Premier League wage bill in 2014 of €113.9m was 80% higher than the average in the Bundesliga and significantly more than La Liga (€55.7m) or Ligue 1 (€47.9m).

In terms of percentage increase over the past five years, Turkey has seen the biggest rise of 104% ahead of Ukraine (94%) and Russia (73%).

The clubs with the highest wage bills are Real Madrid (€270m), Manchester United (€263m), Barcelona (€248m), Manchester City (€245m), Paris St-Germain (€235m), Chelsea (€231m), Bayern Munich (€218m), Arsenal (€199m), Juventus (€184m) and Liverpool (€172m).

Although wages are on the rise, there has been a downturn in wage growth from 6.9% in 2012 to 3% in 2014.

Manchester United had the second highest wage bill in 2014 behind Real Madrid

Profitable spell for United

After recording the highest operating profit in their history of €140m in 2014, Manchester United lead the way when it comes to profitability.

United, along with the rest of the 12 Premier League clubs in the top 20, were boosted by the first year of a renewed TV deal.

Chelsea and Crystal Palace both climb from outside the top 100 in 2013 to ninth and 11th respectively while West Ham, Norwich, Swansea and Southampton also rise into the top 20.

Palace are, in fact, the club with the biggest operating profit margin of 43% in the top 20, ahead of Monaco (30%), Manchester United, West Ham and Norwich (all 27%).

Good gates for Gunners

While there are seven Premier League clubs in the top 20 for gate receipts, Arsenal and Manchester United generated significantly more money than their domestic rivals.

In comparison to the top three of Real Madrid (€121m), Arsenal (€120m) and Manchester United (€119m), Chelsea in sixth are some distance behind with €79m.

Liverpool (€60m), Manchester City (€57m) and Tottenham (€35m) also generated far less from gate receipts than the Gunners and United.

Arsenal have a record attendance of 60,000 at the Emirates

Attendance levels drop

While gate receipt revenue has continued to rise, attendances fell to the lowest level for a decade in 2014.

According to the UEFA report: "Economic conditions remain challenging across Europe, with two in every three leagues reporting lower crowds."

The decrease of 3.5% from 2013 was particularly driven by falls in Turkey (1.2m) and Italy (500,000).

Premier League & Italy spend big

The average cost of a team in the Premier League is €65.2m more than that in Serie A, according to the UEFA report.

When it came to putting hands in pockets in 2014, Premier League and Serie A clubs coughed up.

The two leagues were responsible for 49% of transfer spending in the top 15 leagues in Europe, with the Premier League leading the way with €3,438m at an average of €172m spent per squad.

Italy was a not-so-close second with €2,134m, ahead of Spain (€1,473m), Germany (€1,028m) and France (€1,035m).

Scotland were the lowest spenders with an outlay of just €34m on squads.

Mesut Ozil signed for Arsenal in the summer of 2013

Expensively assembled squads

With Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo in the ranks, it's no surprise that Real Madrid have the most expensive squad (€316m).

PSG (€276m) and Chelsea (€271m) are a close second and a third ahead of Manchester City (€247m) and Manchester United (€245m).

Tottenham (€147m), Arsenal (€137m) and Liverpool (€136m) are in ninth, 10th and 11th respectively.

PSG are one of the highest spenders in Europe

City stump up

With no players sold for a profit, Manchester City had to absorb the highest net transfer cost in 2014 of €91m - 22% of their total revenue.

The Citizens' biggest outlay was on Fernandinho (believed to have cost around £30m) while they also signed Alvaro Negredo, Stevan Jovetic and Jesus Navas.

Inter Milan (€62m), PSG (€61m), Manchester United (€58m) and Bayern Munich (€51m) make up the top five.

Fulham and Cardiff both make it into the top 15 with net transfer costs of €38m and €31m respectively.

Fernandinho (C) was City's most expensive signing of 2013 from Shakhtar Donetsk

Real remain the richest

Real Madrid are still ranked as the richest club in Europe, ahead of Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and PSG.

Read more about these figures here.

Goals, goals, goals

Finally, if goals are your thing then Spain and Estonia were the best places to be in 2014.

Leading the way with goals scored across 2014/15 were Real Madrid with 118 at an average of 3.11 per game.

Estonian sides Levadia Tallinn (112) and JK Sillamae Kalev (108) were second and fourth, either side of Barcelona (110) in third.