Treble winners and four-time consecutive Premier League champions, Man City, could collect arguably their easiest payday yet this summer by playing just seven matches, as it has been confirmed that the total prize money pot for the 2025 Club World Cup is a whopping $1 billion.
We know you can’t hear us through the screen but just know there was an audible gulp.
That’s right, the winner of this year’s FIFA Club World Cup competition will not only get to don the same golden badge as Manchester City did last season but also be able to claim the biggest chunk of an equivalent £775m in British sterling should they emerge victorious.
Not only does this now make the upcoming edition of the international club tournament the most lucrative one in world football but it will also be the biggest single pot of prize money ever won in the sport’s history.
BREAKING: FIFA to announce prize money of $1 billion for Club World Cup for 32 teams, which includes Chelsea and Man City 🚨💰 pic.twitter.com/Gd6Ty5tykC
Set to take place in the US this summer from Saturday, 14 June to Sunday, 13 July, the 2025 Club World Cup will be a revamped version of the competition that had already been won once by City, once by Manchester United, and once by Liverpool.
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It only began back in 2000, with Brazilian side Corinthians winning the inaugural edition and giants such as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Barcelona going on to lift the trophy multiple times – Los Blancos boasting the most with five wins.
Cut to the present day and following major sponsorship and broadcasting deals being struck in recent months, with DAZN securing exclusive worldwide broadcasting rights as well as 24 games being televised by TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport).
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For a long time, the significance of the Club World Cup has been put to one side and merely dismissed a series of glorified pre-season friendlies by teams and their supporters alike.
However, it’s fair to say that offering figures in the region of £100m or maybe even upwards of that for just four weeks of work, as Kaveh Solhekol puts it, will no doubt see plenty of teams change their tune. In theory, they don’t even need to win them all to get their hands on it either.
To put these figures into context, the total prize money for the 2022 Qatar World Cup was $440 million (approx. £341.8m); Argentina got almost £33m of that and the winner of this current UEFA Champions League campaign will earn around £21.1m on top of the roughly £15.7m they get for qualifying.
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So yeah, it’s very big money…
Only Chelsea and Man City are among those representing the UK in the tournament this summer, and although the Blues haven’t been at their very brilliant best this season, you would bank on beating a lot of the big hitters contending for the Club World Cup title this year.
Major European names include record-winners Madrid as well as their Athletico; Bayern and Borussia Dortmund; PSG, Inter, Juventus and Benfica, not to mention the likes of Messi‘s Inter Miami – who have the home nation advantage – Palmeiras, River Plate, Boca Juniors and more from outside the continent.
Although FIFA is yet to confirm exactly how much the winner of this £1 billion competition will take home, in the instance of the now record-breaking 2025 Club World Cup, it seems that it really is the taking part that counts.
Even if the estimate of £77.5m for the champion is vaguely accurate, that’s game-changing money for any team, especially Man City given the shadow of FFP, PSR and the now 130 alleged charges still looming over them.
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Investigations and slightly nauseating levels of money on the line aside, as is often the case with football these days, City continue to become an increasingly massive and truly global club.
So much so that the Etihad Campus won’t soon just be a stadium and series of sports facilities but a year-round ‘entertainment destination’.
Antoine Semenyo has officially joined Manchester City
Danny Jones
Yes, Man City have got their man and further bolstered their offensive options, with Bournemouth star Antoine Semenyo having officially joined the club.
Having emerged as one of the Premier League’s hottest properties over the past couple of years, Antoine Semenyo has gone from not only being an extremely prolific winger, but beyond a flavour of the month, with multiple teams expressing their interest in recent months.
That being said, despite being linked with local rivals Manchester United, current champions Liverpool and an already heavily staffed Chelsea side, MCFC have now won the race to sign Semenyo – one they seem to have been leading since the start.
Finally unveiled by club media on Friday, 9 January, Semenyo was pictured for the first time in the sky blue strip.
It was long after that the first reports of the deal being ‘agreed in principle” surfaced online, and it became clear that no other suitors stood a chance of snatching him away from the Etihad Stadium.
Semenyo’s release clause was set at £65 million, which is approximately the same figure they sold former striker Dominic Solanke to Spurs for, but inevitable add-ons and bonuses were likely to set a rough club record fee in terms of player sales.
Penning a five-and-a-half-year deal, the 26-year-old’s contract will take him through to at least 2031, with the London-born Ghanaian international still yet to hit his peak.
Frightening stuff for Premier League defenders, to say the least.
Sharing a message with his new fan base via the full club statement, Semenyo said: “I am so proud to have joined Manchester City…
“They have set the highest of standards, and it’s a club with world-class players, world-class facilities and one of the greatest managers ever in Pep. I have so much scope for improvement, so to be at this club, at this stage of my career, is perfect for me. It’s a real privilege to be here.
“My best football is yet to come, I am sure of that. And City are in a great position – still involved in four competitions. I really feel I can help them have a strong second half of the season. The Etihad is my new home. I can’t wait to play in front of the fans here, and I hope to show everyone what I can do.”
Happy with the business, Blues? And as for you neutrals, do you think it’s the right next step for him?
Watch Semenyo’s first full interview as a Manchester City player.
Manchester United fans planning another major protest amid more upheaval around the club
Danny Jones
Manchester United supporters look set to stage another high-profile demonstration in protest against the INEOS Sports ownership group.
This is the latest response to the club’s continuing struggles, and not just the first proper organised mobilisation of the year, but the first since the most recent major march last spring.
Following the sacking of ‘manager’ Ruben Amorim, despite co-owner Jim Ratcliffe and his board of executives insisting that the Portuguese head coach (that distinction proving to be a crucial detail), the local sporting giants are once again starting from scratch and looking for another replacement boss.
With that in mind, militant fan group The 1958 announced their most recent protest ahead of a home fixture next month in a rather bold fashion…
As announced we protest against this dysfunctional co-ownership before Fulham.
Yep, neither Amorim, Erik ten Hag, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, nor any face even remotely associated with Old Trafford/Carrington is safe from an AI parody.
As for The 1958 group’s actual protest plans, speaking via the BBC this week, the supporters’ trust has confirmed that they will be making a vocal statement outside the stadium on Sunday, 1 February.
Travelling Reds already made their thoughts known with a very blunt, provocative and somewhat controversial banner in the away end at Turf Moor for the 2-2 draw against Burnley.
With Man United approaching a third-round FA Cup tie against Brighton and two big games in the form of a Manchester Derby at home and a trip to Arsenal, they have decided to choose the Fulham game at Old Trafford to stage the march.
Despite admitting that the results under Amorim were no way near good enough, they insist that the – most notably the overarching and Glazer family shadow ever looming over the organisation.
Further details around the actual timings and locations are still yet to be shared by the organisers, but you can expect this to be a well-attended, large-scale event.
Often convening at The Tollgate pub near regular matchday tram stop, Trafford Bar, before walking down Talbot Road towards the ground itself, we imagine Reds will then descend upon the Theatre of Dreams in their thousands.
In case you didn’t already surmise from the video itself, Ratcliffe and co. will be no doubt the subject of the usual chants, as well as more banners and flags.
What do you make of the latest plans, Man United fans?
Nothing will ever be quite as bold as the infamous Old Trafford break-in from 2022 (Credit: The Manc)
Danny Jones -
6th March 2025 
