Manchester United’s fate is still in their own hands.
While the whole world was moaning about the failure UEFA had conceded in the case of Manchester City’s initial two-year ban from the Champions League, there were all smiley faces across the blue side of Manchester.
From fans to Man City boss Pep Guardiola and his staffs, everyone was seemingly happy and satisfied with the outcome. As per the report from CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport), City will have only to pay an amount of €9 million fine — not a very considerable amount for a club of Man City’s stature.
As you may know, the allegation on Manchester City was of breaching Uefa’s financial fair play rules “by overstating its sponsorship revenue in its accounts and in the break-even information submitted to Uefa between 2012 and 2016”.
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They were not found guilty of those aforementioned accusations, as CAS already declared. However, some doubts are still there as to why City will still have to pay the amount if they have not done anything wrong.
Just like some others, Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho aroused his concerns regarding the matter in pre-Newcastle United game press-conference, saying:
"“If Man City is not guilty of it, to be punished by some million is a disgrace.”“If you’re not guilty you’re not punished. In the other way, if you’re guilty you should be banned. So it’s also a disgraceful decision. In any case, it’s a disaster.”"
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, on the other hand, came forward to take a dig at CAS’s decision to overturn City’s two-year ban, suggesting that it was “not a good day for football”.
Manchester United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, while asked about his opinion on Man City’s fortunate escape, responded in an Ole-esque way, answering:
"“With FFP, it was brought into keep football clubs financially sustainable and that’s important and they give us rules, that’s what we’re focusing on and let other people discuss the rights and wrongs.”"
What else you can expect from a man who has been a herald of optimism since taking over the job at Manchester United following the depature of Jose Mourinho.
However, there is no way to ignore the fact that the decision of overturning the ban in City’s favour has made the job much harder for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United. A 5th position finish in the Premier League 2019-20 season would have granted Manchester United a Champions League berth next season had not City got their ban overturned.
With three games remaining in the Premier League season, the pressure is fully now on Manchester United as they are tussling for the devoted fourth spot in the league table with Leicester City — currently 4th with the same number of points (59) as United, thanks to Leicester’s slightly better goal difference (+3).
Should United miss out on next season’s Champions League, the Mancunian club will have to pay some hefty prizes not only in terms of transfer dealings but also in terms of marketing and sponsorship revenues.
According to a recently-emerged report via Mail Online, Manchester United will lose a massive £25 million sponsorship income from their kit partner Adidas if they fail to qualify for next season’s UEFA Champions League.
Manchester United signed a mega £750 million deal back in 2015 with the German sportswear company Adidas. The deal sees them earn around £75 million every season, which is the second-best to Liverpool’s £80 million partnership with Nike in the Premier League and 3rd and 4th best to Barcelona’s £100 million and Real Madrid’s £110 million sponsorship deals worldwide.
Missing out on such a hefty amount could hamper their plans for the upcoming summer transfer window, which is supposedly proved to a pivotal one in the club’s recent history. Henceforth, by hook or by crook, qualifying for next season’s Champions League is now a high-priority task for the Red Devils.
Do you think Manchester United could miss out on Champions League football next season?