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.

Forbes determined the value using previous sales, broadcast agreements and debt from stadium construction. Real was ranked as soccer’s richest team by revenue in a review published by accountant Deloitte last month. United was third, behind European champion Barcelona.

The top five clubs claimed 86 percent of the $5.5 billion revenues made by European soccer’s top 20 clubs for the 2008-09 season “because their worldwide following allows them to grab much more sponsorship and media revenue”, Forbes said.

The magazine valued Barcelona at $1 billion, ranking it fourth, ahead of Germany’s Bayern Munich, which it said was worth $990 million.

“Due to Barcelona’s decision to sell broadcast rights individually, this team has become so wealthy that it doesn’t even need a shirt sponsor,” Forbes said of the Spanish champion, which won a record six trophies last season.

Liverpool, the five-time European champion put up for sale by its American co-owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks last week, is worth $822 million, according to Forbes.

“Despite the large amount of debt most clubs accrue, investors are continuing to pick up teams around the globe, due in large part to soccer’s growth prospects in emerging markets,” Forbes said. Liverpool and Manchester United owe more than $1 billion collectively.

Liverpool, Chelsea and AC Milan all made the top 10, but the trio’s value had each fallen by 19% in the 2008/09 season according to the Forbes calculations.

Juventus and Olympic Marseille had the two biggest increases in value – each gaining 9% on the previous year.

While the scenario painted by Forbes suggested continued economic success, the average worth of the clubs in the list fell 8.5%.

Click here to view the full report on Forbes’ website.

2010 Forbes’ Ranking:

1. Manchester United: team value=$1,835 Million (£1,114m) / 2009:#1
   Man Utd is the richest club in the world, thanks to shrewd marketing to a worldwide fan base. The Red Devils have won 18 English league titles 10 since the start of the Premiership in 1993, but continued dominance of English soccer has not endeared the Glazers, the U.S. billionaire family that bought the club in 2005, to some die-hard fans who now want to buy them out.
2. Real Madrid: team value=$1,323 Million (£803m) / 2009:#2
   Spain’s most successful team, and, with a record nine European Champions Cups, arguably Europe’s-and perhaps the world’s-most storied soccer club. Long success on the field, immense financial resources and a history of acquiring superstars makes Real Madrid a magnet for players and fans alike.
3. Arsenal: team value=$1,181 Million (£717m) / 2009:#3
   Originally a team of munitions workers from southeast London before moving to north London, the club’s most successful period was in the 1930s, when it won five English league titles and two cups. Now under the guidance of Frenchman Arsène Wenger, Arsenal finished in the top two of the English league for eight straight seasons but has yet to bring a trophy home to its new Emirates stadium.
4. Barcelona: team value=$1,000 Million (£607m) / 2009:#7
   Fiercely proud flag bearers for Catalonia, Barca perennially battles with archrival Real Madrid to be the country’s top team. It has won the Spanish cup more times than any other team and is also the only club to have played in every European Cup since the competition started in 1955. It has often struggled in the Spanish league, winning that title only 19 times, although nine of those have been since 1990. The current side is one of the most electrifying in Europe.
5. Bayern Munich: team value=$990 Million (£601m) / 2009:#4
   Long a powerful force in German football, Bayern Munich’s golden age was in the late 1960s to mid-1970s, when the team, led by Franz Beckenbauer along with striker Gerd Müller and goalkeeper Sepp Maier, won three successive European Cups from 1974 through 1976. The current team remains a perennial force in Europe, if not consistently top-tier. The club also has one of Europe’s most dramatic stadiums.

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