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Manchester United are set to benefit from an unexpected financial boost courtesy of an unlikely source – bitter rivals, Leeds United.
Leeds confirmed their re-entry to the Premier League next season after clinching promotion from the Championship with their emphatic 6-0 win over Stoke City at Elland Road last night.
The three points pushed the Yorkshire side top of England’s second division on goal difference, ahead of Burnley. But, more crucially, it puts Daniel Farke’s side eight clear of Sheffield United in third place, with two games of the season remaining, therefore guaranteeing a top two finish and automatic promotion, alongside Burnley.
However, Leeds had been set to receive a payment of £16 million from the Premier League’s parachute payment structure for relegated sides after the Peacocks were demoted into the Championship two seasons ago.
Instead, owing to their promotion back into England’s elite, this money will be reallocated evenly across the existing Premier League teams, including United.
And when this is combined with the saving from Burnley’s ascension back into the league – worth £31 million in avoided parachute payments at Turf Moor – it amounts to a total a saving of £51 million for Premier League clubs.
Leeds and Burnley will “instead now pick up more than £110m thanks to the television and prize money deals”, according to the Daily Mirror.
Therefore, the Red Devils will benefit from a windfall due, in part, to the efforts of their historical rivals at Elland Road. And with the current financial situation at United a precarious one, as a result of years of reckless spending under the inept hands of the Glazer family, this constitutes a welcome boost ahead of a vital summer for the Mancunian club.
INEOS, who gained full control over the football operation at Old Trafford last year, have implemented a series of brutal cost-cutting measures over the past twelve months, designed to improve a situation Sir Jim Ratcliffe described in cataclysmic terms.
“Manchester United would have run out of cash by the end of this year – by the end of 2025 – after having me put $300m (£232.72m) in and if we buy no new players in the summer,” United’s new co-owner revealed in March.
Therefore, while the total sum derived from Leeds and Burnley’s promotions will be small, every penny counts for United with Ruben Amorim’s squad in desperate need of a comprehensive overhaul this summer.
The fact that this budget will be boosted, however modestly, by the efforts of the club’s hated rival should make each one of their pennies an even sweeter cherry for the Reds’ fanbase.
Featured image Michael Regan via Getty Images
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