Chelsea sold more shirts around the world than Manchester United during the 2015-16 season.
United remain England's richest club, but the Blues - despite their hugely disappointing season - lead the shirt sales figures among English clubs and they are behind only Barcelona and Bayern Munich at the top of the global table.
United are fourth, ahead of Real Madrid, with Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid - into the top 10 for the first time - Juventus and AC Milan following, according to marketing firm Euroamericas.
Barcelona sold 3,637,000 shirts around the world last season, over 400,000 more than German giants Bayern.
Chelsea sold 3,102,000, ahead of United with 2,977,000. Arsenal sold just over two million.
Chelsea's figure represents a rise of a whopping 39 per cent from the previous season, with Bayern's increase of 40 per cent the largest of the top 10 clubs.
United, despite falling behind Chelsea, can still point to a rise of 34 per cent in sales from last season.
Real - despite reaching the Champions League final - managed an increase of just 11 per cent.