/world sport
LONDON, England -- Real Madrid remain the world's biggest revenue generating club but experts say the Spanish giants could be overhauled by Manchester United within two seasons.
Real Madrid could lose their number one ranking in football's rich list within two years according to experts.
Real stayed at the top of the league for the third successive year when business advisory firm Deloitte published their annual Football Money League on Thursday.
The latest figures available are based on the 2006-07 season and show Real's revenue increased by 20 per cent to 236 million pounds ($460m).
United enjoyed an even bigger percentage increase to come in second at 212 million pounds ($414m), two places up on the previous season and ahead of Barcelona, Chelsea and Arsenal respectively.
The Old Trafford club had dominated the money league since its inception in 1996-97 before Real took over.
Paul Rawnsley, director of Deloitte's sports business group, believes it is only a matter of time before United resume their position at the top with the impact of the new television deal due to be felt during the current campaign.
He told PA Sport: "Real Madrid are still at the top after an impressive 20 per cent growth in revenue, but Manchester United closed the gap and have the potential to catch Real up and take that top spot possibly next season or the season thereafter.
"To some extent, that will depend on how they perform relative to Real Madrid in the Champions League."
Figures take into account revenue generated from ticket sales, broadcasting rights, merchandising and the like, and illustrate the financial strength of the Premier League's top clubs.
Six English clubs -- United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool (8th), Tottenham (11th) and Newcastle (14th) -- make the top 20, with Scotland's Celtic in 17th place.
Rawnsley added: "We would expect to see as many as 10 of the top 20 being made up by English Premier League clubs in next year's table.
"There are different ways of measuring the health and quality of the league, but there has been period of strong financial growth in terms of broadcasting rights and matchday and commercial revenues.
"Yes, the clubs spend a lot of money on wages, but overall, the Premier League clubs are profitable.
"It is a different story lower down the leagues, but the Premier League is the highest revenue-generating league in the world."
Italy and Germany each contribute four clubs to the top 20, with Spain having three and France two. E-mail to a friend 
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