Manchester United may pay Ole Gunnar Solskjaer £1m bonus

Manchester United could pay Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a £1 million bonus if he is able to guide the side to the Champions League next season.

The club are currently in fifth place, and with nine games remaining there is a chance that United could leapfrog Chelsea and/or Leicester City if they have an exceptional run of results while the sides above them struggle.

Chelsea had improved significantly in the latter stages of the season before the campaign was prematurely and temporarily curtailed by the Coronavirus pandemic, but the season is due to restart now that the UK government has decided to throw the public back into the path of infection while failing to adequately give protection of health service capacity in time for the second wave.

Leicester have done well too under noted philosopher Brendan Rodgers, and they have one of Manchester United’s summer transfer window targets, James Maddison. Ben Chilwell is reportedly a target for both Chelsea and Manchester City.

It is Manchester City who could offer United their easiest route back to Champions League football. They are due to appeal their European football ban which was levied as a result of breaching financial regulations.

If that ban is upheld then United would only need to finish the season, whenever it ends, in fifth place to be sure of qualifying for the Champions League next season, as City are unlikely to fall out of the top four spaces in the remaining games.

United remain in the Europa League which should be completed in August when domestic competitions are resolved, but they would have to beat out teams such as Wolves, Inter Milan, Roma and Bayer Leverkusen, at least half of whom are better than United at the moment.

Solskjaer is due to take charge of United in competitive football again on 19 June next week when they visit Tottenham Hotspur.