Manchester United 'is world's most valuable sport club'

Forbes rates Manchester United ahead of Spanish giants Real Madrid

Manchester United is the most valuable club in sport, <link> <caption>according to Forbes magazine</caption> <url href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2012/07/16/manchester-united-tops-the-worlds-50-most-valuable-sports-teams/" platform="highweb"/> </link> , which values the Premier League club at $2.23bn (£1.43bn).

United is rated top thanks to lucrative global sponsorship deals, including with Aon, Turkish Airlines, and DHL.

Second is Real Madrid at $1.88bn, with baseball team the New York Yankees and American Football club the Dallas Cowboys joint third on $1.85bn.

Fifth placed is American Football team the Washington Redskins at $1.56bn.

Earlier this month Manchester United applied to list on the US stock market in a share sale aimed at raising a minimum $100m (£64m).

In documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Premier League giant said it was listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

The club had earlier explored the possibility of a $1bn flotation on the Singapore stock market.

United, among the best-supported clubs in the world, said it would use money from the listing to repay debt.

The club has been controlled since 2005 by the Glazer family, the billionaire US sports investors who also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers American football franchise.