Manchester City have been named as football's most valuable brand after climbing above Real Madrid into top spot.
City can secure the Treble for the first time in their history this weekend when they face Inter Milan in the Champions League final in Istanbul. Pep Guardiola's men lifted the Premier League title last month after pipping Arsenal to top spot, before winning the FA Cup after beating Manchester United on Saturday.
And now, City are the most valuable football club brand on the planet - 15 years since Sheikh Mansour took over. They have seen their brand value soar 15 percent this year to £1.29billion and that has seen them overtake Real Madrid, whose brand value dropped three per cent to £1.26bn, as per an analysis by Brand Finance.
Despite going into first place, Brand Finance still believe Real Madrid are the strongest brand in world football and were most likely to be considered as the best club in the world by supporters. This is despite Los Blancos failing to win either LaLiga or the Champions League this season.
As for the other spaces on the list, Barcelona were named in third with a five percent increase in brand value to £1.185bn. Meanwhile, Manchester United climbed five places from ninth to fourth with a 11 percent increase to £1.174bn - moving ahead of Liverpool in the process.
The two clubs can barely be separated, however. Liverpool have a brand increase of nine percent to £1.173bn and drop one place down to fifth. As for the remainder of the top-10, Paris Saint-Germain lie in sixth on £976m, with Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea making up the highest brands.
Newcastle were reported to be the fastest-growing football club brand of an United Kingdom club as they increased a whopping 33 percent to £216m after their takeover. Hugo Hensley, Head of Sports Services at Brand Finance, said, via the Daily Mail : "Manchester City has achieved an extraordinary feat by surpassing Real Madrid to become the champion of football club brands.
"For five years, the City team has exerted its dominance in English football, securing four Premier League titles in the past five seasons.
"However, the club's performance in this year's ranking highlights that Manchester City are performing off the pitch in terms of building a strong brand and attracting fans and sponsors, and setting the stage for what could be an iconic Champions League final against Inter Milan."
