PREMIER LEAGUE teams still have tens of MILLIONS of pounds to play for this season.
Arsene Wenger complained about some clubs being “on holiday” already – earning him a rebuke from Pep Guardiola – but the prize money on offer still means players should be putting the effort in.
Each Premier League position is worth an extra £1.9million at the end of the season.
The top seven are nearly all locked into position – although the £50million prize for finishing in the top four is still a three-horse race – and the three teams have already been relegated.
But the positions that are still up for grabs – from eighth to 17th – carry a difference in prize money of £17.1million.
A team like West Brom can finish as high as eighth (£24.7m) or as low as 13th (£15.2m), a massive difference in spending power in the summer.
West Ham, the team Wenger was referring to as on holiday after they were thrashed 4-0 by Liverpool at the weekend, could finish anywhere between ninth and 16th.
PREM PRIZE MONEY
1) £38m (Chelsea)
2) £36.1m (Tottenham)
3) £34.2m (Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal)
4) £32.3m (Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal)
5) £30.4m (Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal, Man Utd)
6) £28.5m (Arsenal, Man Utd)
7) £26.6m (Everton)
8) £24.7m (West Brom, Southampton, Bournemouth, Leicester)
9) £22.8m (West Brom, Southampton, Bournemouth, Leicester, West Ham)
10) £20.9m (West Brom, Southampton, Bournemouth, Leicester, West Ham)
11) £19m (West Brom, Southampton, Bournemouth, Leicester, Watford, West Ham, Crystal Palace, Stoke, Burnley)
12) £17.1m (West Brom, Southampton, Bournemouth, Leicester, Watford, West Ham, Crystal Palace, Stoke, Burnley)
13) £15.2m (West Brom, Southampton, Bournemouth, Leicester, Watford, West Ham, Crystal Palace, Stoke, Burnley, Swansea)
14) £13.3 (Leicester, Watford, West Ham, Crystal Palace, Stoke, Burnley, Swansea)
15) £11.4m (Leicester, Watford, West Ham, Crystal Palace, Stoke, Burnley, Swansea)
16) £9.5m (Watford, West Ham, Crystal Palace, Stoke, Burnley, Swansea)
17) £7.6m (Watford, Crystal Palace, Stoke, Burnley, Swansea)
18) £5.7m (Hull)
19) £3.8m (Middlesbrough, Sunderland)
20) £1.9m (Middlesbrough, Sunderland)
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Finishing as high as they can will bag the Hammers £22.8m but finishing just above the relegation zone will net the club just £9.5m.
The only teams with nothing to play for are Champions Chelsea, second-placed Tottenham, seventh-placed Everton and 18th placed Hull City.
Even the difference between finishing 19th and 20th is worth another £1.9m to the team that doesn’t finish bottom.
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