Liverpool's owners, FSG, have seen a significant £330m ($414m) increase in the club's valuation over the past year, according to Sportico's annual report on the world's biggest football teams. The Reds now sit fourth globally, with Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United ahead of them.

The Sportico report values Liverpool at $5.11bn (£4.1bn), marking an 8.8 per cent rise from last year. However, this figure is still $1.08bn (£860m) less than Manchester United's valuation, despite their lack of competitive success in recent years.

Manchester City also features in the top 10, sitting in sixth place. Despite winning a treble last year and boasting the highest revenues of any team on the list, their valuation stands at $4.75bn (£3.80bn). Arsenal ($3.92bn/£3.13bn), Tottenham Hotspur ($3.5bn/£2.79bn), and Chelsea ($3.49bn/£2.78bn) fill the eighth, ninth, and tenth spots respectively.

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Sportico's valuation methodology takes into account various factors including historical sales, market size and interest, brand strength, on-field performance, lease terms, debt burden, additional obligations, and future economic expectations. Beyond the top 10, there's a significant drop of $1.71bn (£1.36bn) to Juventus, highlighting the wealth gap between the top 10 clubs and the rest.

The American MLS had 20 teams feature in the top 50 list, 11 more than the Premier League. This is due to the nature of the North American sports ecosystem, which despite revenues being dwarfed by Premier League teams, has no relegation or promotion issues, greater cost controls through things like salary caps, and encourages more collaboration between ownership groups.

Liverpool's owners, Fenway Sports Group, bought the Reds back in October of 2010 for around £300m ($376m). Comparing that valuation to the current one using the Sportico methodology, FSG has seen a £3.8bn ($4.76bn) increase in the value of its initial investment, a 1,266 per cent rise over nearly 14 years of ownership.

Taking inflation into account, that original purchase price would now be around £446m ($559m), showing the massive value increase in the Premier League product globally, significantly driven by the booming media rights market both domestically and internationally.

Liverpool.com says: The size of Liverpool has always been apparent and the power of the Premier League is clear too from the list. It is interesting that MLS clubs are so high up. In the next decade or so, those are likely to grow much further again.