Manchester United has reported that playing in the Europa League rather than the Champions League next season would set it back £40 million.
This loss would, however, be reduced significantly due to a drop in players' wages. Clauses in their contracts would mean the 20 times winners of England's top division would ultimately suffer less than a £10m loss.
The Premier League club has today reported that it took in a record £123.4 million for the three months to March 31st, despite fan discontentment with Louis van Gaal's misfiring side.
Its total revenue jumped 29.9% in its third quarter, and it is expecting to earn in the region of £500m-£510m in 2016.
Whilst United has secured a place in the FA Cup Final, where they do battle with Crystal Palace on May 21st, hopes of Champions League football took a major hit after a 3-2 loss to West Ham United on Monday night.
The team is now relying not only on a win against Bournemouth in their final game of the season, but also a Manchester City defeat to Swansea, to secure a fourth place qualifying spot.
According to the BBC, a clause in United's £750m deal with kit supplier Adidas means they would sacrifice £22m over the remainder of the 10-year contract should they fail to qualify for the Champions League group stage in successive seasons.
Hemen Tseayo, the head of corporate finance at United, claims "that isn't something that keeps us awake at night".
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