Kieran Maguire: Liverpool ‘punching the air’ as £530m disaster dodged
Liverpool will be “punching the air” after it emerged that the European Club Association does not intend to lobby Uefa to change its 10-year coefficient payment system for the Champions League.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about how the Reds benefit from the controversial distribution system.
Around 30 per cent of the Champions League central pot, which amounts to £530million, is handed out to teams based on their performance in Europe over the last 10 years.
Critics claim this system gives established teams an unfair financial advantage over newcomers and those trying to smash the glass ceiling.
A source told Football Insider on Wednesday (4 January) that the ECA, a powerful pressure group representing 245 European clubs, does not intend to push for major changes to the 10-year coefficient mechanism.
Liverpool have reached four major European finals in the last decade alone, lifting the Champions League trophy in 2019.
Maguire explained how this stellar record on the big stage gives them a financial cushion under the coefficient model.
“Liverpool will be punching the air if the present allocation of monies is not challenged,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“As a club that has regularly been through to the final rounds and of course won it in 2019, this puts them towards the top end of the table with the Uefa coefficient.
“Any reduction in the percentage of money that is allocated according to that model would have been bad news for Liverpool.
“That would be especially true if there was a year when they didn’t make much progress in the competition.
“This way, 30 per cent of their income from the Champions League is not tied to performance at all. They would instead be reaping the rewards of past success.“
In other news, Gabby Agbonlahor claims Darwin Nunez “needs” individual training regime as Liverpool axe mooted/