MONEY HIT WOULD BE HUGE

Manchester United will suffer a hit of around £50million if David Moyes’s Red Devils fail to qualify for Europe this season. United are in ninth place in the English Premier League and would need to finish fourth to win a place in the lucrative Champions League or fifth for the consolation prize of the Europa League. The financial implications of failing to make it into Europe are serious, especially as the club budgets on reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League. United stand to miss out on:

£35million in prize money, bonuses and TV market pool share from Uefa for the Champions League.

£10million in match-day earnings – based on having four fewer home games.

£5million – merit money from the Premier League would be around £10million compared to the £15.1million earned from winning the title last season.

Qualifying for the Europa League would soften the blow slightly, with around £3million coming from Uefa and match-day income retained, meaning an overall £32million drop. Failing to qualify for Europe would punch a big hole in United’s earnings, despite the club’s great success in growing their commercial revenue from sponsorship deals. Annual income for 2013-14 is expected to be around £420million, so missing out on Europe would see a 20% drop in revenue. It would also mean less money for the manager to spend on transfers and make it more difficult to attract toppaying sponsors, and some have clauses where they pay less if United are not in the Champions League. There is also the issue of the club’s debt, which stood at £361million last month. United have, however, moved to reduce the cost of servicing that debt and it has dropped considerably, by 21%, to £9.8million for the most recent three-month period primarily due to refinancing to achieve a much lower interest.