He may have bankrolled Manchester City’s transfer spending to the tune of £200 million, but that does not qualify Sheikh Mansour for the title of British football’s wealthiest investor.

According to the financial experts at FourFourTwo magazine, the honour belongs to Lakshmi Mittal, of Queens Park Rangers, whose estimated £18.4 billion fortune puts him top of its annual football rich list. Mittal, who owns 20 per cent of the Coca-Cola Championship club, has been reluctant to offer Jim Magilton, the manager, the same level of backing that Mark Hughes has enjoyed at the City of Manchester Stadium.

However, there is speculation that the Indian steel magnate’s interest in the game could be increased by buying the stake of a fellow QPR investor, Flavio Briatore, the disgraced former managing director of the Renault Formula One team.

Mansour has transformed the fortunes of Manchester City since buying out Thaksin Shinawatra in September 2008 and his estimated worth of £17 billion puts him in second place on FourFourTwo’s list.

At No 3 is the Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, who, the magazine says, has seen his value increase by £800 million to £7.8 billion over the past 12 months thanks to “property, art and yachting assets”.

In fourth place is Tottenham Hotspur’s billionaire backer, Joe Lewis, the largest shareholder in Enic, the investment company that owns the club, who is valued at £2.5 billion, ahead of Stan Kroenke, on £2.1 billion, the first of two Arsenal investors in the top ten. His rival for power at Emirates Stadium, Alisher Usmanov, is ninth on £1.3 billion.

Away from the boardroom, the magazine has produced separate rich lists for players and managers. David Beckham, at £125 million, is comfortably the wealthiest footballer of his generation ahead of Michael Owen (£38 million), Wayne Rooney (£37 million) and Rio Ferdinand (£30 million).

With a £6 million-a-year contract from the FA to augment his earnings, Fabio Capello is the United Kingdom’s richest manager with a fortune valued at £30 million. Roy Keane, of Ipswich Town, is second with £27 million, mainly resulting from his playing days. The Irishman’s former Manchester United mentor, Sir Alex Ferguson, is third on £22 million.

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