Manchester United’s qualification for next season’s Champions League will have a material impact on player pay, according to a report in The Guardian.

The club’s return to Europe’s top competition activates individual Champions League incentivized clauses in many player contracts rather than a single club-wide bonus. The Guardian report that the bulk of the first-team squad will secure a 25% pay rise, although some players will receive smaller increases and others will miss out entirely.

Only three members of the squad are named in relation to pay uplifts. Skipper Bruno Fernandes is listed among those to be rewarded fully. Kobbie Mainoo and Harry Maguire, who both recently signed contract extensions at Old Trafford, will also benefit financially from the club’s Champions League return.

Casemiro remains the club’s best paid player, earning approximately $470,000 per week in Manchester, but he is set to leave United at the end of the current campaign. The report states that Bruno Fernandes will succeed Casemiro as the club’s top earner, taking home around $340,000 per week once his pay increase is confirmed. That rise is reported to place the Portuguese midfielder as the Premier League’s seventh best-paid player in 2026–27 as things stand, when Casemiro, Mohamed Salah and Bernardo Silva all leave their clubs.

Mainoo’s new contract is thought to be worth around $163,000 per week, which still leaves him on less than all three of United’s forward signings from last summer.

The removal of Casemiro’s substantial salary will reduce United’s wage bill ahead of the summer transfer window, even if replacing his influence on the pitch will be challenging. The report also notes that a figure in the region of $100,000 per week will be removed when Tyrell Malacia departs on a free transfer this summer, and that further exits of high earners are expected.

Manchester United have rewarded Kobbie Mainoo with a new long-term contract and a marked pay rise, reportedly worth around £150,000 per week, equivalent to roughly $202,000. The extension is understood to run until 2031 and arrives after a period in which Mainoo moved from occasional appearances under Erik ten Hag to a breakthrough in the 2023–24 campaign.

The midfielder finished that season with a goal in the FA Cup final and later started for England in the Euro 2024 final. His progress had stalled at times amid injuries and doubts over whether Ruben Amorim would pair him with Bruno Fernandes rather than replace the club captain. Those issues prompted speculation about an Old Trafford exit rather than an extension of a deal previously set to expire in 2027.

The arrival of Michael Carrick in the coaching staff coincided with a reversal of Mainoo’s fortunes. Now a regular starter in a side back in the Champions League, Mainoo has secured what media reports describe as a “bumper” increase, taking his weekly pay to the $202,000 area according to the Daily Mail. That figure is almost double what he could command across the previous three years but remains well below Manchester United’s top earners.

Casemiro is widely viewed as the club’s top earner and is understood to be on about $470,000 per week, a sum that helps explain United’s willingness to move him on. Bruno Fernandes sits in a similar top bracket and is thought to earn around $405,000 per week, per The Telegraph. Marcus Rashford would be entitled to a comparable wage should he return from his loan at Barcelona at season’s end, as expected.

Elsewhere in the squad, Matheus Cunha signed for roughly $270,000 per week after his move from Wolverhampton Wanderers. Matthijs de Ligt was reported on about $260,000 per week, while Benjamin Šeško’s deal was reported at around $216,000 per week by Sportklub. Bryan Mbeumo is cited at $202,000 per week by The Guardian, the same figure attributed to Mainoo.

“I think it was also important that Benjamin’s desire has always been Manchester United,” Elvis Basanovič revealed. “Because of that, he was willing to accept a slightly lower salary and I also accepted a lower commission.”

A simple ranking of weekly wages reported in public sources places Casemiro first on $470,000, Bruno Fernandes second on $405,000, followed by Matheus Cunha ($270,000), Matthijs de Ligt ($260,000), Benjamin Šeško ($216,000), and a tie at $202,000 for Bryan Mbeumo and Kobbie Mainoo.

As Casemiro approaches the end of his Manchester United contract, interest from Major League Soccer clubs has been widely reported. Inter Miami are often mentioned among suitors, but the club’s roster and salary mechanisms create a major barrier to signing the Brazilian midfielder.

Reports suggest Casemiro earns $20 million per season at Old Trafford. Inter Miami already have three designated players locked through the 2027–28 season: Lionel Messi, Rodrigo De Paul and Germán Berterame. The club also has three players signed under the U-22 Initiative, the maximum permitted when a team carries three senior designated players. To add Berterame, Miami loaned a fourth U-22 Initiative player, Tomás Avilés, to CF Montréal.

Fabrizio Romano says the club are “really serious” about signing the Man Utd star, but the mechanics are complex. Miami could convert to two designated player slots to free a U-22 Initiative spot, yet that would allow only a younger signing, not a veteran aged 34 like Casemiro. A move would therefore likely require either replacing a current star or a deep roster rework.

Allocation tools also limit Miami’s options. Targeted Allocation Money is used to reduce a salary cap hit for players earning between $803,125 and $1,803,125, but Casemiro’s reported wages sit well above that range. General Allocation Money, which can buy down salaries under $803,125, is minimal for Miami; the club is reported to have only $17,361 in GAM. By comparison, the Colorado Rapids hold $6,380,121 for 2026, while Miami’s 2025 MLS Cup opponent, Vancouver Whitecaps, sit with $20,945.

Without selling or trading significant assets or shedding a designated player, the only practical way for Casemiro to join Inter Miami would be on a salary below $803,125. With the league team salary near the reported maximum of $6,425,000, adding another high-earner looks highly unlikely unless Miami undertakes a major roster upheaval.