Final Liverpool position confirmed amid Premier League prize money implications

Liverpool has finished third in the 2023/24 Premier League season. With two games left of the Jürgen Klopp era, his final league position has been confirmed.

Manchester City mathematically ensured Liverpool could not win the title when it beat Fulham 4-0 yesterday. And Arsenal put second out of reach of the Reds by seeing out a narrow victory over Manchester United.

Third plays fourth tomorrow night, when Liverpool takes on Aston Villa. But despite a stuttering end to the campaign, Klopp's men have been safe from challenges from below for a couple of weeks.

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When it comes to what was long-billed as the title race, Liverpool is eight points behind Arsenal, and seven behind Manchester City. With two games left to play, it can only record a maximum of six more points.

Finishing third represents progress from last season, when Liverpool slipped out of the Champions League places for the first time since Klopp initially secured qualification ahead of the 2017/18 season. The team he has dubbed 'Liverpool 2.0' has shown plenty of promise, even winning the Carabao Cup.

But a second Premier League title and the perfect goodbye proved a stretch too far. Arne Slot is now set to be the one tasked with turning this ball of potential into a challenger that can go the distance.

His budget will be affected by Liverpool's league finish this season. With third place now locked in, we can consider the Premier League prize money ramifications.

The division uses a sliding scale for prize money payouts. Last season, each position was worth approximately $3.9m (£3.1m/€3.6m).

Using those figures from the last campaign, third place was worth $70m (£56m/€65m). That's a significant windfall for Liverpool, although the key consideration is the anticipated return of Champions League riches.

Liverpool.com says: We've known for a while that Liverpool will finish third, but this weekend brought with it the mathematical confirmation. While there's no shying away from the disappointment, a return to the Champions League goes down as a progress marker for this iteration of the team.

The announcement of Klopp's departure attached far more weight to the season, creating a frenzy for the game's top honors, but strides have still been made since last season. The outgoing manager has left things in far better shape for his successor, most likely Slot, and there's every reason to be optimistic for the future. The handsome prize money payout won't hurt as the club looks to invest for the future.