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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Richard Fay

Why Manchester United owe Sporting Lisbon millions after Champions League qualification

Manchester United will have to make an additional transfer payment to Sporting Lisbon after they qualified for next season's Champions League.

United secured a third-place finish in the Premier League over the weekend thanks to a vital win on the final day of the season against Leicester City.

Bruno Fernandes continued his resurgence at United by converting a crucial penalty in the second-half, before Jesse Lingard doubled the lead deep into injury time to wrap up all three points.

United performed remarkably to salvage their season after a poor start with the January arrival of Fernandes proving to be a key turning point in saving the campaign.

However, such was the Portugal midfielder's success that United's qualification will now come at an extra price with Sporting Lisbon owed roughly £4.2million.

United paid Sporting £46.5million upfront to sign Fernandes on a five-and-a-half year contract with the option of an additional year during the January transfer window, with a number of performance related add-ons which could take the deal up to £67.3m.

As part of the deal United agreed to pay Sporting Lisbon an additional £4.2million if they qualified for the Champions League and the same fee again when he reaches an appearance milestone at the club.

Qualification for the Champions League was worth £23million in adidas sponsorship money to United, so the club will have few gripes with having to pay Sporting an additional fee for Fernandes' services.

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