Manchester United would face a financial penalty from kit suppliers Adidas if they fail to make the UEFA Champions League this season.
Having endured a tough start to the Premier League season, and with boss Erik ten Hag under mounting pressure following a 3-0 humbling at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, It has taken a matter of weeks for the positivity that had surrounded Old Trafford at the start of the campaign to dissipate.
United sit 12th in the Premier League, and on the evidence thus far they face a real battle to make the Champions League next season.
Missing out would not only deny the club lucrative sums of cash that come with competing in European football’s elite knockout club competition, but also suffer a penalty from Adidas, the club’s kit manufacturers.