‘Nottingham Forest could double their money after Crystal Palace twist’
Nottingham Forest could be set to double their European prize money after a Crystal Palace twist has emerged.
Forest enjoyed a strong season in the Premier League as they looked on course to qualify for the Champions League throughout the majority of the campaign.
However, a late dip in form saw them slide down the table and end the campaign in seventh spot, just one point behind fifth-place Newcastle United.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were set to compete in the Conference League next season, but they have been promoted up into the Europa League after Palace have been removed from the competition.
Finance expert Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider Forest could earn up to £20million more from the Europa League than the prize money on offer in the Conference League.
Their place in the competition is yet to be fully confirmed as Palace are set to submit an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The international body, which is based in Lausanne, Switzerland, settles sports-related disputes through arbitration and mediation.
Nottingham Forest could land £40m windfall
Borson insisted the big prize of being in the Europa League is the possibility of qualifying for the Champions League if you win the competition.
He told Football Insider: “The difference is quite big actually.
“It’s pretty much double. If you win the Conference League, it’s about £20million. If you win the Europa League, it’s about £40million. That’s on the prize money side.
“In terms of the games, I think as it happens for Nottingham Forest, it may not make a huge difference because they’ve not been in Europe for so long.
“Arguably, they would sell out the stadiums at the same price regardless of whether it’s a Europa League game or a Conference League game.
“If that’s the case they’re going to make the same from both and the only difference will be the Uefa prize money, it may be a £20million difference.
“But you’ve also got to consider the chances of winning it. Clearly, the big prize on the Europa League side is to win the whole tournament and get the following season in the Champions League.
“That’s the prize that’s worth the £70million plus that we’ve spoken about for Tottenham and is, therefore, something that the Conference League can’t offer.
“But of course, it’s much harder to win the Europa League versus the Conference League, so getting that exact balance is quite hard to establish, especially because these teams are in their first season.
“It’s going to be very hard to come into one of these competitions and win it straight away.”
Tottenham expected to complete Gibbs-White deal
In terms of on-field matters, Football Insider revealed on 18 July Tottenham are expected to sign Morgan Gibbs-White despite the “messy” situation that saw Forest threaten legal action.
Forest accused Tottenham of making an illegal approach to the England international after they didn’t give permission for the talks to take place.
The attacking midfielder was set to undergo a medical at Spurs’ training ground after agreeing to the move before Forest put the brakes on.
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