Kieran Maguire: Aston Villa blown away by Arsenal cash pile
The Europa Conference League is a ‘great adventure’ for Aston Villa but the prize money on offer will not impact their finances.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who exclusively told Football Insider that prize money in the Europa Conference League is around one-eighth of Champions League prize money.
Alongside their Premier League success this season, Villa have also shone in Europe with Unai Emery’s side topping Group E with 13 points.
The Birmingham-based side will pocket a small bonus for topping the group and can now look forward to the knockout stages of the competition.
As per Uefa’s 2023/24 distribution model, qualification to the Europa Conference League is worth £2.4million – winning the group is worth an extra £600,000.
However, it pales in comparison to the prize money on offer in the Champions League with Football Insider revealing that Arsenal have already earned over £31million from their European campaign after topping their group.
Maguire believes Villa will treat their European campaign as an adventure and a chance at silverware rather than a financial opportunity.
“The Europa Conference League should be seen as a great adventure by Aston Villa fans,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“But it is not a great financial adventure for the club.
“The money received from the Conference League is about one-eighth of Champions League prize money and also the club has had to invest to have a bigger squad capable of competing in another tournament.
“So I think we will see an approach very similar to West Ham last season – they will enjoy the moment and the European trips with great chance for silverware.
“But don’t expect it to have any major impact on the club’s finances moving forward.“
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