A former Manchester United star has revealed how the club’s bonus system worked during Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign as head coach.
In modern football, wages are a topic of interest amongst fans with players even on the fringe of the senior team earning millions of pounds despite seemingly not doing much on the field to justify their salaries.
Currently, Manchester City’s Erling Haaland is the highest paid player in the Premier League with a weekly wage of £525,000, according to Capology.
Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah is second on a reported £400,000 per week while Manchester United midfielder Casemiro makes up the top three on £350,000 per week.
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As of the 2025/26 Premier League season, the average weekly wage is £60,000 per week, £3,000 more than the 2024/25 campaign’s mean, as per Salary Leaks.
And despite most players earning more in one week than the average person does in a year, their salaries can be further increased by a number of bonuses.
Most players have incentives in their contracts related to number of appearances, goals, clean sheets and league position as well as success in cup competitions.
Even the managers receive lucrative bonuses with Pep Guardiola reportedly donating his league winners bonus to his staff at City.
In a recent episode of Ben Foster’s podcast ‘Fozcast’, now-retired ex-Man City goalkeeper Scott Carson revealed that players at the club only received bonuses if they won competitions.
Carson said: “I had a conversation with Txiki [Begiristain], the director - we were just talking about things and I just asked him something about that.
"And he went, 'Before I came in here, players were getting this, they were paying this - even coming second'. They were paying for the accommodation and cars and he went, 'No I wasn't having that - I just wanted to give the players a bonus when they win a competition'."
So, during United’s period of dominance under the guidance of Ferguson, how did players such as Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes add to their already impressive wages?
Well, according to Foster, who made 23 appearances for the Red Devils between 2005 and 2010, United used a similar system to what City do currently.
Foster claimed: “Just as I was leaving Man United they did the same thing [as City], where they said, ‘No, from now on… you guy are all earning crazy wages. We are not gonna pay you money for getting to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, we expect you to win something’.”
Topics: Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson, Premier League, Ben Foster
Luke Davies