Manchester United named world's most valuable club

Manchester United are gauranteed at least one league success this season as it was valued as the biggest football club in the world today.

Despite a turbulent year for British clubs, the Old Trafford side held on to top spot in Forbes Magazine's list of the world's 20 most valuable football teams.

Seven of the 20 teams featuring in the table heralded from England - despite the Premier League being the most indebted in Europe, according to governing body UEFA.

United, which has now topped the table for six years, was valued last night by Forbes at 1.835bn (€1.36bn) after a 2% fall from last year.

Newcastle United, which was rated as 20th most valuable, was a surprise inclusion after being relegated last year.

Arsenal came third, ahead of Liverpool in sixth, Chelsea in ninth and Tottenham Hotspur at 12th. Big-spending Manchester City trailed in 19th place.

Peter Schwartz, a business sports writer for Forbes, praised Manchester United's resilience as "one of the world's biggest sporting brands".

He said: "The club has really established itself as one of the top brands in world sport.

"New kit deals and great marketing has seen them maintain their status despite all the problems of the global recession."

Real Madrid was forced to settle for second place - despite signing Cristiano Ronaldo from United last summer.

The world's 20 most valuable soccer clubs generated a combined operating US$650m (€484.3m) in operating income last season, a Forbes spokesman said.

Combined revenues grew by $36m (€26.8m) to $5.5bn (€4.09bn) for the 2008-09 season, Forbes said.

"The top five clubs took in 86% of the total because their worldwide following allows them to grab much more sponsorship and media revenue," a spokesman added."

Broadcast rights account for 42% of the revenue of Europe's top 20 clubs.