LONDON: Bayern Munich retained their label as the ‘world’s most valuable football club brand’ in 2014, according to the Brand Finance consultancy.

Bayern’s brand value increased from $860m (€630m) in 2013 to $896m in 2014 as it swept to the Bundesliga title though a question hangs over the ratings and the timings of the assessment.

Newly-crowned European champions Real Madrid moved up from third place to second thanks to a huge $147m rise to $768m to move ahead of English Premier League Manchester United, whose brand value slumped by $98m to $739m after a season of failure in domestic and European competitions.

Barcelona stayed fourth in the rankings with a $50m rise to $622m ahead of the big mover in the top 10, Premier League champion Manchester City, which rocketed from eighth to fifth thanks to a $178m increase in brand value to $510m.

Three Premier League clubs – Arsenal ($505m), Chelsea ($502m) and Liverpool ($469m) – registered in sixth, seventh and eighth with considerable rises of between $83m and $108m, with Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund ($327m) and French Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain ($324m) rounding out the top 10.

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