Galatasaray players are set for a cash boost if they are able to knock Liverpool out of the Champions League.
Tuesday’s trip to Turkey ended in disappointment for the Reds, who lost 1-0 and now have all the work to do at Anfield in the reverse leg.
But should Liverpool fail to qualify, Galatasaray’s president has now promised a 5 million euro bonus to his squad.
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Galatasaray promised €5m bonus to knock out Liverpool
The agreement was reached after striker Victor Osimhen made a demand to the president right after the first-leg clash earlier this week, as journalist Ali Naci Kucuk has explained.
He said: “After the victory, Osimhen told President Dursun Özbek, who entered the locker room, ‘Let’s make the bonus 5 million euros if we advance to the next round,’ and the president agreed.
“The management set a 1.5 million euro bonus for the Beşiktaş derby, and the team won. A 2 million euro bonus was set for the Juventus round, and they advanced. A bonus of around 750,000 to 1 million euros will be announced for the Başakşehir match. What does that make in total? 9.5 million euros.
“The president, along with Abdullah Kavukcu, promised, ‘Beat Başakşehir, eliminate Liverpool, and the entire bonus package will be in your account at the end of the month’.”
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But while Galatasaray have been given an extra incentive to win the tie and already have a 1-0 goal lead, there is still a view that the Reds will qualify on Wednesday.
Jamie Carragher backs Liverpool to make it into the quarter-finals of the competition before losing to PSG.
Phil Thompson has explained why losing against Galatasaray was actually better than drawing 1-1.
Meanwhile, Opta still say the Merseyside outfit have a 51.36% chance of making it into the next phase of the tournament.
At present, success in this season’s competition may be Liverpool’s best chance of making it into the Champions League next term.
And if they fail to do so, FSG will use the club’s £350m credit facility rather than injecting more money into the team.
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