Simon Jordan has explained why Manchester United are still the biggest club in the world.
The former Crystal Palace chairman was joined by Jim White and Danny Murphy in the talkSPORT studio on Wednesday when the topic sparked huge debate, both on air and across social media.
Despite their recent slump when it comes to winning silverware, Jordan made his feelings clear. "Manchester United, globally, are a bigger club than Liverpool," he began.
Advert
"Liverpool stole a march on modern football by dominating the 70s and 80s but when the Premier League came around, who were the poster boys of the Premier League? Coincidentally, Manchester United.
"When you think of the Premier League and you think of its formative years; you think of Manchester United.
"By the way, every column inch. Every yard. Every news story. Every inch and every scintilla of broadcasting space is occupied by Manchester United's success, failures, fans, ownership model, players and share price.
"Name me another club that has such a good and bad level of interest like United. And that drives eyes on the prize.
Advert
"They go and do deals. They don't have to go to Etihad, a company they already own, to get a £50 million pound shirt deal. They go to TeamViewer or to Chevrolet."
Fellow talkSPORT presenter Jim White then asked: "If you walked down the street in Barcelona and said, 'Manchester United: are they the biggest club in the world?' Of course they wouldn't say yes."
Jordan went on compare both Manchester United and Barcelona's current financial situations.
Advert
"Barcelona were five or six hundred million pounds in debt and you said they were in meltdown," he said. "Manchester United are five or six hundred million pounds in debt. It's 10% of their worth and doesn't even touch the sides.
"You have to look at the scale of Manchester United. Look at the league they are playing in. Look at the commercial deals that they do, look at the endorsements they have, look at the revenues they generate and look at the players they've signed.
"And then you look at Barcelona and say, 'well, okay, where are you at the end of this particular journey?'"
Advert
Jim White argued that Manchester United fans would change their tune if Robert Lewandowski walked through the door today, but Jordan played down that suggestion.
"No. Manchester United fans wouldn't change their tune if they signed Lionel Messi, [Kylian] Mbappe and [Robert] Lewandowski," he said.
"If they signed Neymar and signed everybody they wanted, they would still turn around to the Glazers and say, 'you're toxic vampires and we don't want you anywhere near the club'."
You can see the full clip below.
Thoughts on the argument?
Advert
Let us know in the comments. This should be interesting!
Topics: Manchester United, Liverpool, Simon Jordan, Premier League