UEFA confirm £400m plan as Manchester United battle to fight for Champions League qualification

UEFA have announced a significant increase in prize money for the Champions League starting next season.

It remains to be seen if Manchester United will be competing in the Champions League next season, but as fans we certainly hope that Erik ten Hag’s team has a better second half to the campaign but we can all forget about it otherwise.

Champions League qualification has even more importance now following Wednesday’s announcement that there will be a £400m increase in prize money for Europe’s most prestigious competition starting next season, as per Manchester Evening News.

That simply means extra financial incentive for United to qualify for the Champions League again.

UEFA has announced that there will be an increase in the total prize money for next season’s Champions League to £2.1 billion – a £400m increase from the current figure. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that there will be more money in the competition because there will be more teams involved (jumping from 32 to 36).

This might not be of interest to United for another few years since we’re currently struggling to qualify for the Champions League, let alone win it outright, but clubs also accumulate money at each stage of the competition.

So, for every match won or drawn, clubs receive a set amount of cash which increases the further a team advances. That is essentially how Man City received a nine-figure sum of £115m after their run to the final last year.

As things stand in the Premier League, United are in a battle to reach the top four following an inconsistent first half to the 2023/24 campaign. Ten Hag has been very unlucky with the amount of injuries to key players we’ve had and I am convinced that is why we haven’t looked anywhere near as competitive as last season.

It is crucial that we beat Aston Villa at Villa Park this weekend.

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