Real Madrid pip Manchester United to be named most valuable club

Real Madrid were named the world's most valuable football club in Forbes' annual list on Thursday, finishing ahead of Manchester United, Barcelona, Liverpool and Manchester City.

The business magazine assessed Madrid's value at $6.6 billion, just ahead of United's $6.55bn.

Despite their financial difficulties, Barcelona were third in the rankings, at $5.6bn, more than Liverpool's $5.37bn.

Madrid topped the list for the third consecutive year, and the eighth time in 11 years.

Forbes uses "enterprise value" to rank the clubs, which assesses a company's overall worth by including its market value, debt and liquid assets, using figures from the accounting firm Deloitte.

The magazine pointed to Madrid's club record $873m revenue generated in 2022-23 -- the most of any team on the list -- from broadcasting, commercial deals and matchday income.

Twelve of the 30 teams on the Forbes list are Premier League clubs, with Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal also featuring in the top 10.

Atlético Madrid are the only other LaLiga team ranked in the top 30, in 13th place with a value of $1.3bn.

Real Madrid's finances have been boosted by their success in the Champions League in recent seasons, winning the competition five times since 2014. They face Borussia Dortmund in this year's final on June 1.

Forbes said that the average team on the list was now worth $2.3bn, up 5.1% on the previous year, despite a challenging market for broadcast rights for the Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 with reductions in their most recent TV deals.