Manchester United fans are desperately waiting to see if new boss Ruben Amorim can help put the disastrous Erik ten Hag era behind them.
The Red Devils languish in 13th place in the Premier League table with a negative goal difference and four defeats to their name already.
However, the supporters might be able to take some comfort from the news that they are still the biggest club in the land – despite falling way behind their rivals in the table.
That’s because despite not winning the Premier League title for 11 years, the Old Trafford club rules the roost when it comes to social media influence.
While many older fans will dismiss this as trivial, it does show the reach the club famous for Sir Alex Ferguson, the Busby Babes and that night in Barcelona still enjoys.
Charlie Ford from Tribal Football, which carried out the research, said: “It’s been a rough time for Manchester United fans ever since Sir Alex left.
“Big-name managers such as Jose Mourinho and Louis Van Gaal have come and gone, unable to reverse the dramatic downturn in fortunes.
“But while what really matters is results on the pitch, these figures show Manchester United still command plenty of interest in the football world.
“When you consider that Manchester City have won 17 trophies in the past nine years under Pep Guardiola, but still lag behind their neighbours in terms of social media attention, it shows the Red Devils remain a huge sporting organisation.
“While Ruben Amorim faces a huge task in getting them back to the glory days, if he can get some momentum then it might not be too long before they are back near the top of the Premier League.”
Tribal Football looked at the five major social media platforms – Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Tiktok, Facebook and YouTube – to calculate the largest followings
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Manchester United – 222.9 million followers / subscribers
United dominate most of the social media platforms, including boasting an impressive 84 million followers on Facebook.
These channels were particularly busy on Monday when news that Ten Hag had been sacked started to emerge.
Manchester City – 158.9m
The reigning Premier League champions now boast a Ballon d’Or winner in Rodri, plus they are top of the table.
There is some doubt over whether Guardiola will still be at the Etihad next season – but he has already transformed the Blues into a true global giant.
Liverpool – 149.7m
The Reds have made a surprisingly smooth start to life under new boss Arne Slot, losing just one game so far to sit pretty in the Premier League and Champions League.
The Merseysiders are top of the pile on YouTube due to their imaginative videos and the passion of Kop fans across the globe.
Chelsea – 142m
It may surprise a few people that Chelsea are still high up in the social media charts following a lean period and plenty of turmoil at Stamford Bridge.
But the glory years of Mourinho, Lampard and Drogba came at a time when the Premier League was blowing up around the world – so they hooked in plenty of fans who still follow their fortunes keenly.
Arsenal – 108.7m
While their team has fallen just short on the pitch in the past two seasons, Gunners fans have been given new belief under Mikel Arteta and it seems only a matter of time before they win a major trophy.
Famed for supporter-led channels like AFTV, they also do some impressive numbers on the official club accounts.
Tottenham – 101.5m
Making up the last of the big social media clubs is Spurs, who are close behind their North London rivals.
Manager Ange Postecoglou has made an impact at the magnificent Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but his team has lacked consistency. Get that right and those social media numbers are only going to grow.