Chelsea's surprise winning bonuses if they beat Liverpool to win Carabao Cup final

Chelsea players will be given just £500,000 to share amongst themselves if they can defy the odds and win the club's first trophy since Clearlake Capital took over in May 2022. 

This figure is a massive drop off to the £1.6million Manchester United players earned last season after they triumphed over Newcastle United, with each member of Erik ten Hag's 25-man squad pocketing £65,000. 

Chelsea's proposed figure has them at £20,000 each even though that will not surprise fans as the new owners have managed to reduce the wage bill and cut down on excessive spending in an attempt to structure the club in a way that it takes care of itself. 

The prize money for winning the League Cup is £100,000 so on a wider scale, a bonus of £500,000 for the winning team isn't a surprise, but given Chelsea's lofty history the figure comes at less than a day's pay for most of the players.

The club's FA Cup winning bonus is more generous at £1m, which reflects the greater prize money on offer in that competition. 

The FA have increased prize money significantly in recent years and the winners of this season’s competition will receive £4m, whereas the Carabao Cup winners get just £100,000 from the EFL.

Final preview

Liverpool have an injury crisis with almost 10 players a doubt for the game with barely two days to go. Goalkeeper Alisson Becker has also been ruled out as well as lethal finisher Diogo Jota, but Chelsea can lay claim to that also with captain Reece James and left-back Marc Cucurella out of the final. 

The last time both teams met, Liverpool ran out 4-1 winners but Chelsea have a history in one-off competitions which makes this incredibly hard to call. Liverpool players want to send Klopp off with a trophy while Chelsea players want the first since Roman Abramovich left the club.