Manchester United have been named the third most valuable football club in the world this year, according to Forbes.
Since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, the Reds have not won the Premier League and have mainly struggled on the European stage bar a Europa League triumph in the 2016/17 season under Jose Mourinho. Supporters have been protesting against the ownership of the Glazer family for some time now, citing their mismanagement of the club for the team's demise.
Notable protests took place before matches against Brighton and Hove Albion and Liverpool while anti-Glazer banners from the fan group The 1958 have been spotted at fixtures both home and away. This summer, United spent roughly £227.4million on six new recruits in Erik ten Hag's first transfer window.
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Tyrell Malacia, Lisandro Martinez, Christian Eriksen, Casemiro, Antony and Martin Dubravka have all been welcomed to the club and the majority of these signings have caused improvements on the pitch. United fans have made it clear that success in matches will not halt their stance on the ownership and so this has proved with the continuation of protests.
The anti-Glazer rhetoric is likely not to be dampened by the latest figures from financial magazine Forbes who have ranked the top 50 most valuable sports teams in the world. United are ranked 19th on the list with a net worth of $4.6bn (£3.97bn), a five-year change of 24 per cent.
This figure sees United rank as the third most valuable football club in the world behind Real Madrid ($5.1bn) and Barcelona ($5bn). Earlier this week, United's share price rose by a whopping 39 per cent, meaning that the Reds' value on the New York Stock Exchange went up $600m in just a month.
Forbes' rankings are dominated by NFL franchises with the Dallas Cowboys named the world's most valuable sports team with a staggering net worth of $8bn.
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