MANCHESTER United have been named the world’s most valuable football club by Forbes for the first time in five years. United were valued at $3.69 billion by the American business magazine, ahead of Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Barcelona are valued at $3.64bn while Real Madrid, ranked first in the list for the past four years, fell to third with a value of $3.58bn.

Bayern Munich ($2.71bn) and Manchester City ($2.08bn) also made the top five. Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Juventus and Tottenham make up the rest of the top 10. Mike Ozanian, assistant managing editor at Forbes Media, said: “Manchester United’s return to the top spot is a testament to their powerful brand and marketing acumen.”

United generated revenues of $765 million during the 2015-16 season, according to Forbes, $77m more than both Barcelona and Madrid. They are also the most profitable club, posting operating income of $288m — $107m more than second-placed Madrid.

Last week, United were named Europe’s most valuable football club following a report by auditors KPMG, which valued the club at €3.004bn ($3.39bn). United, who won the EFL Cup and Europa League last season but finished sixth in the Premier League, announced in May projected full-year revenues of between £560-570m ($722-731m) and expected profits that could surpass their current record of £191.9m ($247.5).

They currently have 26 global sponsorship deals, including with adidas, Chevrolet, 20th Century Fox and Uber, as well as 10 regional sponsorship deals and 28 other media and financial sponsors. – ESPN

—  Jun 6, 2017 @ 18:05 GMT