Manchester United has climbed two places to second in the Football Money League organised by Deloitte, which ranks the 20 biggest clubs in the world based on revenue.
But Real Madrid remains the world's largest revenue generating club, completing a hat-trick of first place finishes.
United is joined in the top five by Chelsea and Arsenal. Chelsea has climbed two places to fourth, while Arsenal is the biggest climber in the 2007 money league, rising four places to fifth.
Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said: "This is the first time that any country has had three clubs in the top five of the money league. Arsenal's move to the Emirates Stadium has transformed their revenue, while Chelsea's revenue increase sees them return to the top five."
Real Madrid and Manchester United became the first clubs to generate more than £223m in a season.
Football remains a growth sport, especially at the highest level. The top 20 clubs' collective revenue grew by 11% to €3.7bn in 2006/07, the highest rate of growth since 2002/03.
The global top 20 is entirely populated by European clubs. Six English clubs feature, along with four from each of Germany and Italy, three Spanish clubs, two French and one - Celtic - from Scotland.