Leicester players 'won't get a bonus' should they win the Premier League

Leicester are five points clear at the top after a quite superb season in which they have gone toe-to-toe with the best clubs in the country - not least in their 3-1 win over Manchester City at the weekend.

And the omens look good for them: for the last 11 seasons in a row, the team that was top of the league at the start of February has gone on to claim the title.

Furthermore, there is precedent for a team of supposed minnows to claim one of Europe's big four leagues: it's not so long since Montpellier did it in Ligue 1, as Ben Lyttleton wrote for Eurosport a couple of weeks ago.

[ANALYSIS - Why Leicester must look to Montpellier for inspiration to sustain title tilt]

But should Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and co pull off this stunning coup, the Daily Mail reports that they won't see a single extra penny in bonus payments.

"Terms drawn up last summer make clear the emphasis on survival, with a £6.5 million pot shared among the squad for ending the campaign in 12th or above," the paper claims.

"There were no provisions made for finishing any higher, let alone in the Champions League places or top of the pile."

[IN-DEPTH - Breaking down the title run-in: do Leicester have the advantage?]

The story adds that the players were to split £3.5m should they have finished 17th, £4.5m for 16th and 15th, £5.5m for 14th and 13th, and £6.5m for 12th or higher - and even the most ambitious of those targets already looks certain.

"Leicester's squad now know that the bumper cash prize will surely be banked come the end of the season, so the glory of trying to become champions is the only immediate motivation."

Let's hope none of Leicester's players read this report, because it's the absolute last thing they need - and just at the time when they need to redouble their focus to avoid any complacency given their win at the weekend and their cushion at the top of the table.

This is a side that has remarkable chemistry and spirit, and talk of money can only upset that. While the players may not have had league victory (or even Champions League qualification) bonuses written into their contracts last summer, it is absolutely unthinkable that Leicester's owners would be foolish enough not to spread around the bounty that looks likely to follow this staggering season.

Even if they don't, every single player in the Foxes' squad will know that they can write their own tickets - at Leicester or elsewhere - if they finish off this minor miracle. Vardy, in fact, has already done so having just agreed a new four-year contract; and reports on Thursday morning claim that Mahrez is about to follow suit.

The fact that these Premier League bonus payment details have been leaked stinks of agents trying to line their pockets by focusing on the potential financial rewards rather than the game.

If success comes, the financial bounty will certainly follow. Let's hope Leicester's squad don't get distracted by this sort of stuff.

[ANALYSIS - Leicester's run-in: The teams that stand between the Foxes and the title]