Manchester United Players Have 38 Million Reasons To Win Europa League

Manchester United will pay out £38 million in bonuses to its players should the team beat Ajax in the Europa League final next week and qualify for the Champions League, according to reports.

In Stockholm a week from Wednesday, Jose Mourinho’s team will aim to take the back door into Europe’s top club competition. United will finish the season outside the Premier League’s top four, but has the chance to qualify for the Champions League by beating Ajax.

Should they do so, most of the United players would be given a pay rise in excess of 25 percent, according to The Times, as well as receiving a £1 million (about $1.29 million) bonus as part of their performance incentives.
The pay rise comes from a clause in the players’ contracts. Those paid more than £20,000 (about $25,700) per week saw their wages cut by 25 percent when the club failed to qualify for the Champions League. The cuts will be undone should the team beat Ajax.

According to the report, 22 players from the first team fall under the wage bracket but it would not apply to summer signings Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan or Eric Bailly.




A second season outside of the Champions League would further harm United’s incomings in sponsorship. A clause in the club’s deal with Adidas would see a £22.5 million ($29 million) penalty should it fail to qualify for the competition in consecutive seasons.

Mourinho’s team has lost successive games, to Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, in the Premier League. United plays Southampton away on Wednesday before hosting Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on Sunday for the final game of the season.

Three days later, Mourinho’s first season will be deemed a success or failure over 90 minutes in Stockholm.

Source:Sports.yahoo