The club’s annual Football Money League sees the Manchester club take the top slot from Spain’s Real Madrid, who held it for 11 years but now fall to third, with Barcelona retaining second place. All three clubs broke the €600m revenue barrier in 2015/16, the first to do so. Over the 20 years Deloitte has calculated the rankings, there have been 42 different teams from across the world taking a place in the top 20, with only 10 ever-present clubs. Only Manchester United and Real Madrid have ever held the top position, with United last crowned the biggest earners in 2003/04.

United’s revenue of £515.3m (€689m) in 2015/16 is the highest ever recorded by a football club and grew strongly across all three of the revenue categories (matchday, broadcast and commercial) compared with 2014/15. While income was boosted by the club’s return to the UEFA Champions League, it was commercial revenue growth of £71m (€100m) that clinched the top position.

Dan Jones, partner in the sports business group at Deloitte, said: ‘In recent years, their ability to secure commercial partnerships with value in excess of that achievable by their peers has been the crucial factor in enabling the club to regain their place at the top of the Money League. 

‘That said, they’ll face strong competition from FC Barcelona and Real Madrid to retain the top spot in next year’s edition, due to the lack of Champions League football, the weakening of the pound against the euro and, over the longer term, as other clubs enter the commercial market demanding similar deals, using United as the precedent.’

Deloitte reports that there were eight English Premier League teams in the top 20 this year, equalling the record total, with combined revenues totalling nearly €3.2bn (£2.4bn). Leicester City’s extraordinary title-winning season had an evident impact on revenues, and the club’s 2015/16 revenue of £128.7m (€172.1m) was almost five times the revenue generated two seasons previously in 2013/14, boosting them to take 20th place.

Elsewhere, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham remain in seventh, eighth, ninth and 12th respectively. Significantly, Manchester City entered the top five for the first time, ranked at number five, following a successful run in the UEFA Champions League. This is the first time that England has had two clubs in the top five since 2011/12.  West Ham United are the other English representative in 18th.

Tim Bridge, senior manager at Deloitte, said: ‘The Money League continues to demonstrate the Premier League’s financial strength in depth. The appearance of Leicester City shows that on-pitch success gives any Premier League team a chance of a position in the top 20.’

The top five is completed by Bayern Munich, in fourth position, with Paris Saint-Germain falling to sixth.  Once again, PSG are the only French club in the Money League, with FC Zenit St Petersburg the only Russian contender.  Italy provides four clubs in the top 20. Juventus lead the way in tenth place, with AS Roma (15th) climbing above AC Milan (16th) for the first time. Internazionale complete the Italian entrants, remaining in 19th position.

Bridge said: ‘The overall revenue of the top 20 clubs grow by 12%, compared with 8% in the previous year. We can expect the growth rate to be strong again next year as the Premier League clubs benefit from increased revenue due to their record television contracts. There is a strong chance that almost all Premier League clubs will be in the top 30 clubs next year.’