MAN UNITED NAMED WORLD'S RICHEST CLUB.

Breda/The Netherlands, 22 April 2010 -  Manchester United were named the world's most valuable football club for the sixth year in a row in Forbes magazine's annual table. The English Premier League champions, owned by the American Glazer family, are valued at $1.84 billion.Record nine-time European champions Real Madrid are second in the list with a value of $1.32 billion, with Arsenal third on $1.18 billion. Reigning Spanish and European champions Barcelona were fourth, followed by the trio of Bayern Munich, Liverpool and AC Milan, who have 16 European Cups between them.

Forbes tallied income from revenue streams including broadcast deals, sponsorship and ticket sales.
Overall, the top 20 clubs saw their average value decline to $632 million from $691 million, with 15 teams seeing their values decline. Juventus and Olympic Marseille had the two biggest increases in value - each gaining 9% on the previous year. United, who claim to have 333 million followers worldwide, will begin a new sponsorship deal with American insurance giants Aon Corporation next season that will bring in $34 million a year over four years, 50% more than its current deal with AIG. "The club has really established itself as one of the top brands in world sport," Peter Schwartz, a business sports writer for Forbes, said in a statement. "New kit deals and great marketing has seen them maintain their status despite all the problems of the global recession." Despite their success on and off the field, a wealthy group of United fans, known as the Red Knights, are putting together a bid to buy out the Glazers, who have loaded $839 million of debt onto the club.

FORBES' TOP TEN FOOTBALL TEAMS BY VALUE ($MILLION)

1. Manchester United 1,835
2. Real Madrid 1,323
3. Arsenal 1,181
4. Barcelona 1,000
5. Bayern Munich 990
6. Liverpool 822
7. AC Milan 800
8. Juventus 656
9. Chelsea 646
10. Inter Milan 413

Source: cnnmoney.com