Manchester United continue to top the Forbes list as the most valuable football club in the world but Real Madrid are gaining ground.

United are also ranked as the most valuable team in any sport, worth $2.24billion (£1.4bn), €385million more than baseball’s New York Yankees and the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.

Arsenal are fourth on the list, worth $1.29billion (£800m), behind Real Madrid (£1.6bn) and Barcelona (£816m) but just ahead of Bayern Munich (£766m).

The Forbes list ranks Chelsea in seventh place, worth £474m, and Liverpool eighth with a value of £386m.

United’s huge global fanbase, estimated by Forbes to number 330 million, has helped maintain the club’s position at the top.

However both Real Madrid and Barcelona have higher revenues than United, due in large part to the fact they have negotiated their own individual television rights deals for Spanish football.

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