Manchester United players take legal advice about salaries they can demand if season is cancelled

Manchester United players are taking legal advice about the salaries they can demand next season if the current campaign is scrapped.

They fear they could lose out on a 25 per cent pay rise totalling more than £50million which would be triggered by qualification for the Champions League.

Stars at other clubs are also concerned about losing significant appearance and performance bonuses of up to £500,000 each, because they may not reach the required thresholds if the season is not completed.

United’s players have the most to lose financially if the 2019-20 season is curtailed because, unusually, their basic salaries are linked to participation in Europe.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad will all be due a 25 per cent rise if they reach the Champions League, but the qualification procedure is uncertain in the event of the Premier League being cancelled.

Solskjaer’s side are fifth in the suspended Premier League and outside the top four qualification places — one of many reasons the club’s hierarchy and players are eager for the season to resume.

United had appeared set to replace Manchester City in next season’s competition had City’s Champions League ban for breaches of Financial Fair Play rules been upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, although that process has been delayed by the pandemic.

United players fear that they could miss out on a 25 per cent pay rise if season is cancelled

City could yet apply for their ban to be suspended pending their appeal, which would enable them to enter next season’s competition.

With so much uncertainty and the financial stakes so high, a number of United players are understood to have sought legal counsel about whether they could claim their bonus if they are denied a Champions League place by forces beyond their control.

Rather unusually, the basic salaries of United players are linked to participation in Europe 

Many at other clubs are also concerned about losing out on bonuses if the fixture list is not completed. Players at all clubs outside the traditional Big Six have clauses in their contracts entitling them to bonuses of up to £500,000 for staying in the Premier League, although they are contingent on them playing in 70 per cent of matches.

With all clubs having nine or 10 games left, very few players will have passed the 70 per cent threshold required to trigger the bonus.