English Premier League clubs account for more debt than the rest of Europe's leading clubs put together, according to a new report by the Union of Football Associations (UEFA).

UEFA's European Club Footballing Landscape research has revealed the combined debt of the 20 English Premier League clubs was €3.8bn (£3.4bn) in 2008 - 56 per cent of the continental total. The study also showed that English clubs' assets of €4.3bn (£3.8bn) are worth nearly half - 48 per cent - of the total figure for the 732 clubs licensed by Europe's governing body for football during the 2007-08 season.

According to the report: "One thing is clear, the level of bank and commercial debt is strongly connected to the size of the asset base, with long-term debt typically linked to stadium ownership. "In some cases this is because new debt is used as the most efficient and available source of funding for a new stadium development (e.g. Arsenal), but in others it is because the already built assets provide security for commercial lenders who may not offer financing without this long term asset."

Image: Arsenal Football Club's Emirates Stadium