Manchester United at risk of losing £22.5million after shocking start to season

Manchester United are under no illusions as to how big this season is.

The club with the most league title wins in English football are desperate to get back to challenging for major honours once more. Recent years have seen the club's fanbase grow tired at the struggles to not just compete for the top prize but to secure Champions League football.

Since their last league crown in 2013, United have missed out on the top four in five of the last nine seasons. Last year they posted a below-par sixth-placed finish with their lowest-ever points tally in the Premier League era.

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Now, the financial implications of missing out on Europe's blue riband club competition have been laid bare. Due to the terms of United's kit deal with adidas, which was signed in 2014 and officially begun in 2015, United will lose out on £22.5million in sponsorship money next year if they fail to qualify for next season's Champions League.

The German sportswear giant can reduce the amount that they pay United by 30 per cent if the club misses out on two consecutive seasons of Champions League football. Although United have missed out on Champions League qualification on several occasions in the last nine years, they have never gone two successive seasons without it.

Last season's toils, combined with a poor start to life under new boss Erik ten Hag, mean they are under big pressure to return to Europe's top table or miss out on a significant sum of money that could be added to their transfer budget next year.

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