Despite their inability to wrestle back supremacy on the field in the Premier League, Manchester United are still far ahead of their rivals in their social influence both domestically and internationally, it can be revealed.

A report provided exclusively to Telegraph Sport by Newton Insight ranks Premier League clubs according to eight performance indicators, including size of fanbase, growth of fanbase and engagement. The report shows United to have greater clout than any other club in England.

United's Facebook following is 26 million larger than Chelsea, their closest rival, while they are also adding more fans on Twitter and Instagram than any other team. For a club already as established as United, this is hugely impressive.

This success is not down to the club's prominence or success on the pitch over the last 30 years. Rather, their approach to building and expanding the global outreach is described as "relentless" in the report. They do not sit back and defend a lead, instead they keep pressing forward. (Perhaps Jose Mourinho should take note.)

United does have more resources than others to build their fanbase, but they are also more committed than most to continuing their rise in this regard.