The Carabao Cup pays the competition’s eventual winner over 10 times less than the FA Cup winner receives, according to recent findings.
Last year Manchester City denied Tottenham Hotspur from ending their trophy-less run by beating the north London side 1-0 in the final.
Aymeric Laporte scored the all-important goal in the 82nd minute, powering home a Kevin de Bruyne free-kick in front of a limited capacity Wembley crowd.
The Carabao Cup is famed for giving lower-level opposition the opportunity to compete against the very best, however, some Premier League clubs see the trophy as an annoyance that further clusters the fixture list.
Therefore, teams often play fringe players and youth prospects in order to keep the first team rested for league games, and it is clear to see why as the winner of the competition receives just £100,000 for the success, according to The Athletic.
The report goes on to say that the coveted FA Cup pays the winner £1.8million, which sounds fair until you hear the money given to each club at the end of the Premier League campaign.
This season, City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool are battling it out to win the league in what is set to be one of the most exciting seasons in recent history.
Most clubs made substantial marquee signings and the new talent, such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku, are already settling back in at their clubs.
The winner of the Premier League this year will receive £38million, which is £12m less than what Arsenal paid Brighton for Ben White this summer.
Of course, that figure doesn’t include the substantial TV and sponsorship money that clubs receive.
There is also a difference of £2million between every Premier League finishing position, so the team in 16th will earn £2m more than the team in 17th for example, which explains why teams in the bottom half still battle until the very end of the season even when clear of the relegation scrap.
In European competitions, the prize money is understandably more than domestic trophies.
Who will win the Champions League this season? Comment below
The winner of the Europa League earns themselves a substantial £56million prize money, which may well have funded Chelsea’s £97.5m signing of Lukaku over the summer after their victory in the competition last season.
The somewhat embarrassing prize money available for the Carabao Cup will shock many, but also provides justification as to why you are unlikely to see big names until the very late games in the tournament.
City have won the trophy six times in the last eight years, however, they may be forced to field a significantly weaker side in the first few rounds of the tournament, starting on Tuesday against Wycombe Wanderers.
Speaking about the growing injury list at the Etihad Stadium ahead of the cup tie, manager Pep Guardiola said: “I don’t have any alternatives, we are going to play a few young players, some first-team players, but some will rest for the games we have ahead of us,
“A few players from the Academy are going to play because we have John (Stones), Ayme (Laporte), Rodri, Oleks (Zinchenko), all of them are injured.
“Ruben [Dias] and Joao [Cancelo] played all the minutes and I do not think they will be able to play in this game. We will see.
“We don’t have four or five days [to prepare], we have three to make a good selection. It’s an opportunity for the Academy, that’s why they are there.”
The Cityzens could be reliant on young talents like Liam Delap and Cole Palmer to step up and make a name for themselves in place of the proven players.
Overall Rankings of Prize Money
1st - Champions League winners- £56m
2nd -Premier League winners - £38m
3rd- La Liga winners- £34m
4th - World Cup winners- £32.6m
5th - Serie A winners - £20m
6th - Ligue 1 winners -£15.4m
7th - Premier League per place - £2m
8th - FA Cup winners - £1.8m
9th - Carabao Cup winners - £100,000
