£10m bonus for Gunners

ARSENAL will reward their players with up to £10million if they lift the europa league trophy by beating Chelsea in Baku next week. Members of Unai emery’s squad will be due substantial bonuses as a result of clauses in their contracts linked to winning european trophies.

Sportsmail understands stars will be entitled to payments of between £100,000 and £500,000 if they

lift their first continental trophy since winning the European Cup-Winners’ Cup in 1994. So victory could cost the club up to £10m — a price they would be happy to pay to secure a continental trophy. Beating Chelsea in Azerbaijan on Wednesday week would come as a huge boost to the club in a footballing sense, but would also be a significant boost financially, despite the prospect of bonus payments. Emery has a guaranteed transfer budget of around £40million this summer, but winning the Europa League — which would earn qualification into next season’s Champions League — would increase that sum significantly. Arsenal are geared up for Champions League participation, underlined by the fact that last season’s yearly player bonus schedule did not include a specific payment for winning the Europa League, despite starting the season in the competition. And a return to Europe’s premier club competition next season would play a crucial role in ensuring Emery can build on his first season. Chelsea’s players, as revealed by Sportsmail, are also entitled to six-figure sums should they defeat the Gunners. Meanwhile, Arsenal will take on Austrian side LASK Linz in a behind-closeddoors friendly on Thursday in preparation for Chelsea.