Premier League leaders Manchester United have become the first sports team in the world to be valued at more than $3 billion.

A surge in the club’s shares after a poor start when they were offered on the New York Stock Exchange in August has seen the overall value of United rise to US$3.3 billion or €2.45 billion.

According to Forbes, United are comfortably ahead of the world’s second-most-valuable sports team, the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, worth $2.1 billion (€1.56 billion).

The United shares were initially offered to the public at $14 and are now worth just under $17 .