Manchester United's players have an incredible
£38million resting on their UEFA Europa League final against Ajax next week.
Under the pay structure at Old Trafford, which
assumes that United qualify for the Champions League every season, all players
on more than £20,000 a week are docked 25 per cent of their salary if they fail
to make it.
So another season in the Europa League, the fate
of Jose Mourinho's side if they lose to Ajax in the Stockholm final next
Wednesday, would see them lose a quarter of their earnings for the second
consecutive season.
It means the final is one of the most lucrative
matches a football team has ever played in.
According to The Times, the mandatory wage cut
applies to the 22 first-team players who finished last season under Louis van
Gaal and amounts to £28m in total.
The four United signings made last summer after
Jose Mourinho took over - Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Eric Bailly and
Henrikh Mkhitaryan - also stand to lose £9m under the same structure.
In addition, a loss to the Dutch side would see
United's players lose out on a £1m shared bonus under the club's performance
incentive scheme, making £38m collectively.
Two players who are exempt from the pay cut are
youngsters Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Axel Tuanzebe, who earn less than £20,000 a
week.
As well as losing out on the lucrative revenue
that comes with playing in the Champions League, a failure to qualify would
also affect United's sponsorship deal with adidas.
A clause in their £75m-a-season contract with
the sportswear giant stipulates a 30 per cent cut - worth around £22.5m - if
they fail to make the Champions League for two consecutive seasons.
No comments:
Post a Comment