Beşiktaş fastest growing European club as Man United remains most valuable
| AFP Photo


Istanbul giant Beşiktaş recorded the biggest growth in club value among Europe's top teams, accounting firm KPMG said in a report published Wednesday.

According to the report, Beşiktaş's enterprise value — the amount it would take the buy the club — grew 52 percent as of Jan. 1, 2018 year-on-year, reaching 333 million euros ($401 million).

The KPMG attributed the increase in the Turkish club's value to the first full season played in the brand new Vodafone Park and the team reaching the Europa League quarterfinals in the 2016/17 season.

"We calculate the assets of each club, if they own a stadium for example, the value of the players, but also the value of the brand or image with advertising contracts and their reach on social networks," Jacques Boussuge , the head of sports advisory at KPMG, explained the company's methodology.

Meanwhile, Beşiktaş's Istanbul rivals Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe lost 13 and 9 percent in value, respectively. The Lions' value decreased to 330 million euros ($398 million) and the Yellow Canaries to 319 million euros ($385 million).

The Turkish clubs were placed 23rd, 25th and 27th in the ranking of top 32 European teams according to their value.

English side Manchester United remained at the top of the list as its value grew 5 percent year-on-year to 3.2 billion euros ($3.77 billion). Spanish giants Real Madrid with an estimated value of 2.9 billion euros ( $3.5 billion) and Barcelona with 2.8 billion euros ( $3.35 billion) completed the top three.

In total, the financial value of the 32 clubs reached an estimated 32.5 billion euros, a 9 percent increase from 2017.