MANCHESTER UNITED have been hit with a £2.7million bill by Sporting Lisbon as part of the deal for Bruno Fernandes.
The Red Devils secured a 2-0 win at Leicester yesterday to earn their place in next season’s Champions League thanks to a penalty from the Portuguse star and Jesse Lingard.
Since the £47m arrival of Fernandes in January, United have won nine out of 14 Premier League matches with the attacker already repaying his fee.
The strike against the Foxes was his tenth goal already for United.
And that form has inspired the club to just their third top four finish since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.
Now United will not begrudge having to pay a little more for their new talisman.
As part of the package that brought him to Old Trafford, United agreed to pay an additional £2.7m if they qualified for the Champions League this season.
Now that has been achieved, the Portuguese club will bag an extra windfall this summer, according to The Record.
And if Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side reach it again for the next two years then they will need to also pay an additional £1.8m – or £900k should they achieve it just once more.
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That means they could eventually end up paying a total of £59.5m for the star.
But the extra cash, which may total £9m if further add-on clauses are met, will not cause any issues to United after they recorded their second-best finish since Fergie retired.
Following the victory at the King Power, Solskjaer said: “I think the boys have completed a great achievement.
“You know where we were earlier in the season, so to end up third is a fantastic achievement.
“They have taken on so many things, we’ve had our ups and downs, but of course it came down to the last game and it is a wonderful achievement by everyone.
“Champions League qualification means better opposition next year and big games. That’s what these players need.”
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Solskjaer added: “We need to step it up because it means every midweek you’ve got to go with your best team.
“In the Europa League, we’ve rested players and given an amount of minutes to young lads. Now, we’ve got to go for every game.
“You’ve got to go and get fitter and stronger and more robust. That’s another part of the Champions League – of course, financial gain. But that’s not in my head.
“The club know what I feel we need and we’re going to try and pursue it. So let’s see where we end up.”
