A foreign legion of investors will be scouring the Barclays Premiership for takeover targets as the value of teams soars, propelling as many as ten teams into Europe’s rich list. Even though the latest 2006 Deloitte Football Money League shows the top English clubs slipping down the order, with Real Madrid consolidating their position as Europe’s most financially powerful club, followed by Barcelona, the results are likely to prove a blip.

Premiership clubs are about to share income from the sale of broadcasting rights worth £2.1 billion. The winners of the Premiership title will receive £50 million in the 2007-08 season, a massive increase from the £30.4 million paid to Chelsea in 2005-06, while even the bottom club will receive £10 million more than the £17 million Sunderland received last season.

The strength of the Premiership as a brand known around the globe means that Deloitte expects at least half the European Money League top 20 to be made up of English clubs within two years, with even some unfashionable teams muscling their way past foreign counterparts.

The Premiership’s sheer financial strength in depth is underlined by the fact that, of eight English clubs in the Money League, three — Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and West Ham United — have not played in the lucrative Champions League. Dan Jones, the editor of the Money League report, said: “The spread of money throughout the English clubs is much greater than in other countries. The Premiership has much more strength in depth and the new television deals will mean that English clubs will make a strong showing in future.”

The takeover of Liverpool by George Gillett Jr and Tom Hicks, the American tycoons, is the latest stage of a foreign invasion — but it will probably not be the last. According to Jones, clubs outside the English Big Four of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool are laying foundations that could make them profitable, even without winning the Premiership title. “There are signs that clubs in the middle of the Premiership can be extremely well-off, even if they are not vying for the honours on the pitch,” he said. “That is unlike the situation in Spain, Italy, Germany or France, where a few clubs dominate.”

United, traditionally Eu-rope’s richest club, slipped to fourth, behind the two Spanish clubs and Juventus, in 2005-06. But Real, who earned £202 million, and Barcelona (£179.1 million) have recently signed two huge television deals, while Juventus depend on the sale of broadcasting rights for 70 per cent of their income of £173.7 million but face being hit hard as the impact is felt of their relegation from Serie A after a match-rigging scandal.

United’s income slipped for the third year running, to £167.8 million, according to the report, but new sponsorship deals, bigger television revenues and success on the field should revive the club’s standing. Chelsea (£152.8 million) are down one place to sixth but also have new deals pending.

Arsenal, with earnings of £133 million, move up a place to ninth on the back of the £24 million they made from television rights as Champions League runners-up, but the increased capacity of their new Emirates Stadium will help them to climb the table next year, while Liverpool (£121.7 million) slip two places to tenth.

West Ham (£60.1 million) join the elite for the first time, in nineteenth place, thanks to their FA Cup run last season, while Newcastle United (£85.9 million) are thirteenth, Tottenham (£74.1 million) fifteenth and Manchester City (£61.8 million) seventeenth.