Premier League champion Manchester United tops Forbes magazine’s list of soccer’s most valuable clubs for the sixth year with an estimated market value of $1.8 billion.

The 18-time English champion, controlled by the Florida- based Glazer family, is followed by record nine-time European Cup winner Real Madrid, with a value $1.3 billion. London-based Arsenal, the subject of takeover speculation, completes the top three with a $1.2 billion valuation.

Elimination from the Champions League at the quarter-final stage is likely to cost Manchester United a drop in income of around £15 million compared to last year.

UEFA distributes €4 million (£3.5m) to each semi-finalist of the Champions League and €5.2 million (£4.5m) to the beaten finalist (Manchester Utd’s position last year). The club would also have earned a likely £3m plus from gate receipts and commercial revenues from hosting a semi-final.

he 2014 Brazil World Cup is set to be the most profitable tournament ever for Fifa.

World football’s governing body expects to generate an income of $3.8bn for the 2011-2014 period – of which more than 95 per cent will come from the World Cup in Brazil.

The UK Government is drawing up radical proposals that would give football fans first option to buy their clubs if they are put up for sale.

The ideas, due to be included in the Labour manifesto, would also require clubs to hand over a stake of up to 25 per cent to supporters groups.

The Manchester United Supporters Trust, the voluntary organisation looking to force a change of ownership at the Premier League club, is considering taking out press ads as it looks to increase membership and donations.

Real Madrid’s new failure to reach the quarter finals of Europe’s Champions League after being defeated by Olympique Lyonnais harms the clubs’ finance.

Real Madrid becomes the first sports team in the world to generate revenues of over €400m in a year. The spanish giants increased their revenues by 10% and are on top of the Deloitte Money League for the fifth consecutive year.

FC Barcelona overtook Manchester United to become second.

Premier League team Arsenal slashed its borrowings at a time when rival clubs are struggling with rising debt and posted a 44 percent rise in first-half pretax profit.

The European football governing body, UEFA, has released a new report on the financial health of European football clubs, the European Club Footballing Landscape. Finances of more than 600 top-clubs among UEFA’s 53 member national associations have been studied in order to produce the broadest benchmarking report ever made.