Real Madrid is the richest football club in Europe; Manchester United, Barcelona & City follow closely

Five from the English Premier League are among the top 10 most valuable clubs in Europe.

A few experts from the London School of Marketing conducted a reasearch and have found out the top 20 valuable clubs in Europe.

There are no awards for guessing the richest football clubs in Europe, but can you guess?

It is none other than Real Madrid, who is sitting at the zenith of that list with Manchester United following closely. The survey has further found out that the Red Devils have more fan following across the globe than any other club in the continent.

They are not sitting comfortable at the top of that list as there are other European football giants who are closing in on Real Madrid and the Red Devils.

Surprisingly, there are five English Premier League (EPL) clubs, including United in the top 10 most valuable clubs in Europe. Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool are in that top 10 list.

Sheik Mansour took over City in 2008 and ever since their stock have been on the rise in the exchange. Their market value increased by 94% in the last seven years. One should not be surprised if they catapult themselves in the number position in that list of the richest clubs in a few years.

Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and West Ham United have also made it to the top 20 valuable clubs in Europe.

"Name and brand recognition is so important for the greatest clubs and the UK and Spanish teams dominate this market. Football clubs offer unique marketing opportunities as they represent five different promotional tangents that can be exploited," Jacques de Cock from London School of Marketing was quoted as saying by Mirror.co.uk.

"Football remains the only real global sport with a passionate and faithful following. The European football clubs travel much better than US sports and the largest clubs have supporters in over 80 countries, making targeted campaigns in various regions a real possibility."

Here is the complete list of the top 20 valuable clubs in Europe:

1. Real Madrid - Â£2.07bn

2. Manchester United - Â£2.05bn

3. Barcelona - Â£2.007bn

4. Manchester City - Â£2bn

5. Bayern Munich - Â£1.492bn

6. Chelsea - Â£870m

7. Arsenal - Â£832m

8. Liverpool - Â£624m

9. Juventus - Â£531m

10. AC Milan - Â£492m

11. Borussia Dortmund - Â£445m