The latest annual Deloitte & Touche review of football finance has revealed that despite record turnover, clubs are still walking a precarious financial tightrope.

The review's findings confirmed the English Premiership as the world's richest football league, but many of the clubs in it risk financial ruin as they struggle to compete with rising player wages.

The report showed a rise of 13 per cent on last year's income, with many Premiership sides taking advantage of lucrative television sponsorship deals. Rapidly escalating player wages, however, have taken a serious toll, resulting in pre-tax losses of £34.5m for teams in the top division, compared to £13.7m last season.

The authors of the report said that only three clubs - Manchester United, Leeds United and Watford - were within their limits, having spent under 50 per cent of their income on paying players.

Teams in the First Division are in an even more alarming position, where sides are spending as much as 95 per cent of their income on paying players in the gamble of gaining promotion to the Premiership.