Missing out on the money spinning UEFA Champions League can be very costly for a football club like Manchester United that has won three Champions League titles to its honors.
Manchester United lost their hope of qualifying for next season’s Champions League after Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Huddersfield. Manchester United are beginning to count the cost of Champions league exit.
David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho have all been given money to spend; more than £600 million between them since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, but for the fourth time in six years since Ferguson departed, Man United have failed to finish the season outside of the Premier League’s top four.
The Manchester outfit may be commercial giants off the field but miss out around £60m in prize money for non-participation in the Champions League, which is why Pogba and other higher earners will be directly impacted as a result.
That means a return to the Europa League is imminent and in order to protect themselves from the massive drop in revenue, Man United players will get a wage cut of 25 per cent after missing out on Champions League.
The Daily Mail reported in April that the majority of contracts negotiated at Old Trafford include a clause that sees players’ lose 25 per cent of their wages for finishing outside of the top four.
Now that’s been confirmed, several players are set to be hit in the pocket.
Alexis Sanchez too will be greatly affected. Sanchez’s reported £500,000-week contract will take a £125,000 hit and be reduced to £375,000 for next season.
Paul Pogba’s weekly wage will be reduced from £300,000 to £225,000, while David de Gea will go from earning £200,000-per-week to £150,000-per-week.
Like many top sports stars, Pogba’s income is heavily supplemented through commercial deals and endorsements.
The World Cup winner’s commercial rights value will drop to £2.87m compared to the £3.125m he earns while playing Champions League football.
Pogba returned to United from Juventus in 2016 in what was then a world record deal worth £89m.
He signed a 10-year deal with Adidas in 2016 worth a staggering £31m.
According to Forbes, Pogba’s net worth is in the region of £23.2m ($29.5m), which put him at No 52 on the list for the world’s highest paid athletes in 2018.
As a result, the 26-year-old has been tipped to leave Old Trafford this summer with Real Madrid touted as his most likely destination.
According to Football Leaks, Pogba will also miss out on a £1.875 million bonus included in his contract every year that Man United qualify for the Champions League.
The Mail’s report adds that Man United are facing as much as £65m in lost TV revenue and prize money.
Their kit deal with Adidas is also reduced by 30 per cent for not playing in Europe’s elite club competition for two successive seasons.
From a business point of view, missing out in Champions League competition for next season as severe setback that will hurt Man United earnings and their players.
Anthony Nlebem
