English and Spanish teams dominate top ten most expensive clubs

Manchester United boast the most powerful brand in world football according to a 2018 report by Brand Finance.

The findings show that the Old Trafford club's brand power is worth a massive £1,357m — £404m more than Manchester City, who are the second most valuable English club brand.

Places two and three in the world's top 10 are taken up by La Liga dominators Real Madrid (£1,127m) and Barcelona (£1,082m) respectively, while German giants Bayern Munich are fourth with a brand worth of £1,007m.

The rest of the top-10 places are taken up by English clubs with the exception of PSG who take ninth place with a value of £654m.

Arsenal (£776m) and Tottenham (£548m) are non-movers as they sit eighth and 10th respectively — the same positions they held in the 2017 list.

But Liverpool (£862m) have risen from ninth to sixth, while City are also on the up after jumping one place to fifth. Liverpool's value increased by 296 per cent from 2017, but City's rise was even steeper at 310 per cent.

Chelsea (£856m) have moved in the other direction though, falling from fourth in the world to seventh in a year that has seen them lose their title as Premier League champions and possibly their status as a Champions League club as well.

Brand Finance's research also explored clubs' popularity in various nations. United were found to be the most popular team in India, while Barcelona were the top choice in Barcelona.

Guangzhou Evergrande are the most popular club in China.

Credit: Dailymail