PSG team to net '€1m for Champions League title'
If the players of PSG didn’t already have enough motivation to win the club’s first Champions League title, they certainly do now. Reports in France say each player will be rewarded with a €1 million ($1.4 million) bonus if they bring the trophy to Paris.
The pockets of the mega-rich Qatari owners of the French club PSG appear bottomless.
Such is their desire to win their first Champions League trophy, the owner, QSI (Qatar Sports Investments' are offering an eye-watering €1-million bonus to each player if they manage to triumph in the final in Lisbon on May 24th.
That would represent the biggest bonuses ever paid out in the history of football, L'Equipe claimed.
The previous highest bonuses handed out were in the region of €800,000 (£667,000, $1.1m) that Bayern Munich players pocketed for their Champions League triumph last season as well as winning the German title and German Cup.
With a squad of 25 players for the Champions League, the club's president Nasser al Khelaifi could be looking at a total payout of around €25 million, although it is not clear whether only first team regulars would qualify for the €1 million jackpot.
According to French sports daily L'Équipe, PSG’s star striker, the Sweden international Zlatan Ibrahimovic, negotiated the bonus with Khelaifi.
Ibrahimovic is clearly not short of cash after he was listed in the world’s top five richest players this week.
To put that in perspective the windfall up for grabs for PSG’s players, including Uruguayan Edinson Cavani and Brazil’s Thiago Silva, is double that on the table for the players of Spanish giant’s Real Madrid.
PSG’s players are however no strangers to receiving big bonuses.
Last year the team, which then included England’s David Beckham were handed €240,000 for getting to the quarter finals of the Champions League, where they were knocked out by Barcelona.
They also pocketed €400,000 each for winning the league, which PSG look likely to do again this year after building up an eight-point lead over fellow mega-rich club Monaco.
PSG’s Qatari owners are desperate to see the Paris club join Europe’s elite like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
One thing that would no doubt thrust the club into the big time is winning the Champions League.
The draw for the quarter finals takes place on Friday with Barcelona, Real Madrid as well as the English teams Chelsea and Manchester United as potential opponents.
“We are once again in the top eight European teams,” said Khelaifi. “There are still some big teams left in the competition. We will look to go as far as possible.”
The team go into Friday's quarter-final draw (11h00 GMT) in Nyon, Switzerland along with Bayern, Borussia Dortmund, Real, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United.
First-leg ties are set for April 1 and 2 with the return fixtures one week later.
Marseille remain the only French club to win the Champions League when they defeated AC Milan 1-0 in 1993.
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The pockets of the mega-rich Qatari owners of the French club PSG appear bottomless.
Such is their desire to win their first Champions League trophy, the owner, QSI (Qatar Sports Investments' are offering an eye-watering €1-million bonus to each player if they manage to triumph in the final in Lisbon on May 24th.
That would represent the biggest bonuses ever paid out in the history of football, L'Equipe claimed.
The previous highest bonuses handed out were in the region of €800,000 (£667,000, $1.1m) that Bayern Munich players pocketed for their Champions League triumph last season as well as winning the German title and German Cup.
With a squad of 25 players for the Champions League, the club's president Nasser al Khelaifi could be looking at a total payout of around €25 million, although it is not clear whether only first team regulars would qualify for the €1 million jackpot.
According to French sports daily L'Équipe, PSG’s star striker, the Sweden international Zlatan Ibrahimovic, negotiated the bonus with Khelaifi.
Ibrahimovic is clearly not short of cash after he was listed in the world’s top five richest players this week.
To put that in perspective the windfall up for grabs for PSG’s players, including Uruguayan Edinson Cavani and Brazil’s Thiago Silva, is double that on the table for the players of Spanish giant’s Real Madrid.
PSG’s players are however no strangers to receiving big bonuses.
Last year the team, which then included England’s David Beckham were handed €240,000 for getting to the quarter finals of the Champions League, where they were knocked out by Barcelona.
They also pocketed €400,000 each for winning the league, which PSG look likely to do again this year after building up an eight-point lead over fellow mega-rich club Monaco.
PSG’s Qatari owners are desperate to see the Paris club join Europe’s elite like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
One thing that would no doubt thrust the club into the big time is winning the Champions League.
The draw for the quarter finals takes place on Friday with Barcelona, Real Madrid as well as the English teams Chelsea and Manchester United as potential opponents.
“We are once again in the top eight European teams,” said Khelaifi. “There are still some big teams left in the competition. We will look to go as far as possible.”
The team go into Friday's quarter-final draw (11h00 GMT) in Nyon, Switzerland along with Bayern, Borussia Dortmund, Real, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United.
First-leg ties are set for April 1 and 2 with the return fixtures one week later.
Marseille remain the only French club to win the Champions League when they defeated AC Milan 1-0 in 1993.
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