Manchester United have been warned they are set for financial turmoil, with sponsors set to have the upper hand over minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
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Manchester United set for financial woesClub lost £85m Europa League finalRatcliffe sent sponsors warningFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
United missed out on £85 million ($115m) by losing the Europa League final, according to football finance expert Dr Rob Wilson, and will feel the pinch for years to come as a result – with failure to qualify for the Champions League a major issue.
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Wilson, the Director of Executive Education at University Campus of Football Business, told : "Having lost the Europa League, they've probably missed out on something between £10-15 million in direct prize money. The qualification that they've missed out on in the Champions League has cost them around about €80-100 million of additional revenue. That revenue is due to broadcast gate receipts and some of those UEFA payments. Then there's stuff around commercial bonuses, appearance fees, match day revenues that they would have benefited from.
"There's some significant reputational impact that you would bake into this as well. Sponsors obviously pay for success and failing to lift the trophy last night and their league position dents the kind of narratives that those sponsors can use for leverage in commercial negotiations. The offset to that is a lot of Manchester United sponsors will have clauses in their contracts where they don't have to pay as much if the club is not participating in Europe."
THE BIGGER PICTURE
United are set to have to sell numerous first-team players to balance the books and give Ruben Amorim a chance to rebuild the team this summer. That could include captain Bruno Fernandes, who has an offer from Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, while Alejandro Garnacho looks set to leave after airing his disappointment over his role in the Europa League final.
Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR MANCHESTER UNITED?
Amorim is set to apologise to United supporters ahead of Sunday's final Premier League match of the season against Aston Villa. Failure to win could see them drop to a finishing position of 17th.