Manchester United have fallen out of the top three most valuable football clubs in the world, according to Forbes.
The Red Devils, who are valued at £3.05 billion, have moved down a place to fourth with German giants Bayern Munich above them in third.
At the top of the list, Barcelona have moved ahead of Real Madrid to become Forbes’ most valuable football club at £3.46 billion – just marginally ahead of their LaLiga rivals – while Liverpool have jumped up three places to fifth and ahead of Manchester City.
Last year’s Premier League champions, owned by John Henry and Tom Werner, are valued at £2.98 billion while City, led by the Abu Dhabi United Group are worth £2.91 billion.
Forbes state the Reds have enjoyed a 88 per cent value change over the past two years.
Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea are England’s next most valuable club at £2.33 billion, while Stan Kroenke’s Arsenal are just behind the Blues in eighth place, rated at just over £2 billion.
Tottenham, owned by Daniel Levy, have snuck into the top 10 at £1.67 billion – just behind Paris Saint-Germain on the list.
United have slipped out of the top three despite achieving the highest operating income – earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, player transfers and disposal of player registrations – on the list with £121 million.
The Red Devils’ revenue stood at £467 million, which was the fourth highest on the list, around £43 million lower than Bayern.
The updated list is a blow to Real Madrid who have lost their status as Forbes’ most valuable club in the world.
Zinedine Zidane’s side beat their rivals to the LaLiga title last summer while the Catalans recently announced losses of £83.5 million for last season and debts that had more than doubled to £420 million.
However, Los Blancos remained the best club in the world regarding commercial revenue, bringing in £424 million advertising, sponsorships, shirt and kit deals during the 2019-20 season.
But Barcelona’s broadcast revenue for the season stood at £200 million, higher than any other team in the campaign, which saw them finish top overall.
Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City were the only two clubs in the top ten to make a loss in the operating income section, with the Ligue 1 club losing £3.64 million while the English side lost £1.45 million.
Interestingly, Tottenham had the second highest operating income out of all the clubs in the top 10, but Spurs – who recently built at new £1 billion stadium and took a £175 million Bank of England loan in June to cover costs have a debt value of 39 per cent.
Spurs’ north London rivals, Arsenal, had a lower revenue than both Tottenham and Juventus – who finished behind them in Forbes’ list – but the Gunners have a lower debt (7 per cent) than their European rivals.
English sides Everton (15th), West Ham (18th) and Leicester City (19th) made Forbes’ top 20 most-valuable sides, while the likes of Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan joined Juventus in just missing out on the top 10.
Teams’ values were decided on an enterprise level (equity plus net debt) and include the economics of the club’s stadium but exclude the real estate value.
FORBES’ BUSINESS OF SOCCER TOP TEN LIST
1. Barcelona -(£3.46bn)
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Real Madrid – (£3.46bn)
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Bayern Munich – (£3.07bn)
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Man United – (£3.06bn)
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Liverpool – (£2.98bn)
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Man City – (£2.91bn)
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Chelsea – (£2.33bn)
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Arsenal – (£2.04bn)
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PSG- (£1.82bn)
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Tottenham – (£1.67bn).
