Chelsea and Manchester City have received more than £40 million insurance against their failure to qualify for next season's Champions League due to their participation in this summer's World Cup.
Both clubs, who meet at the Etihad on Saturday, will battle to finish in the top four and secure a place in European club football's top tournament. But Enzo Maresca and Pep Guardiola will also take their teams to the extended 32-club World Cup in the United States this summer.
And both Chelsea and City will fork out at least £40m just for their arrival – with a healthy bonus package on top of that. The eventual world champions will pocket a fee of £80 million, which is similar to the £85 million that will be paid out to this season's Champions League winners.
Maresca and Guardiola will be desperate to lead their teams into next season's competition. Chelsea, European champions in 2012 and 2021, finished sixth in the Premier League last season and entered the Europa Conference League for the first time.
City, which won the Champions League for the first time in 2023, has been among the elite for the past fourteen seasons. Guardiola's side must beat Club Brugge on Wednesday to clinch a place in the play-off round, having won just two of their first seven games in the newly-formed competition.
The four-in-a-row Premier League champions are in a strong financial position and have already spent more than £120 million during the transfer window in a bid to salvage the campaign. Guardiola has never failed to reach the Champions League in 15 seasons as a manager at City, Bayern Munich and Barcelona.
Chelsea are already facing an investigation into their finances after informing UEFA and the Premier League that payments may have been made on new signings off the books during Roman Abramovich's ownership.
The London club are also walking a tightrope with PSR after a transfer fee of more than £1 billion under owner Todd Boehly.
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