Manchester United in line for £39m as purse soars

Manchester United will pocket around £39m should they beat Barcelona in the Champions League Final in Rome.

The huge sum is the largest share of the £525m that Uefa distribute among the 32 clubs competing in the group stages.

Prize money for the tournament is allocated on the basis of a club's performances throughout the tournament, with around £525,000 awarded per win.

A further pool of around £242m of television is then shared out between the team's, with the Premier League's representatives typically scooping around 20 per cent.

Next season, however, Uefa are hoping for a massive £263.3m increase in commercial revenue, leading a further hike in prize money - with the winner's likely to pocket in excess of £50m.

United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal have dominated the Premier League in recent years and there are fears the increased Champions League cash which they could be in line to receive could damage the competitiveness of domestic leagues.