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Football is called the beautiful game. The kind of global appeal that the sport has is unmatched. As a result, there is a lot of business that's been built around this appeal. Top football clubs have almost become synonymous with massive wealth.
In order to keep a squad healthy and satisfied, players have to be remunerated adequately or they could choose to find it elsewhere. Most of the biggest and most popular clubs in the world make a lot of money whether it be from match tickets, broadcasting rights or merchandising and a number of other things.
Let's take a look at:
10 clubs that have the highest wage bills in football right now:
#10 Arsenal - £4.78 million/player
Arsenal pay £4.78 million per player every year. Is it worth it? Most certainly not because their highest paid player is Mesut Ozil and he is currently paid £350,000 a week just to keep the bench warm.
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This is particularly concerning to Gunners because they finished 8th on the Premier League table and are in desperate need of a rebuild. However, Ozil's exorbitant wages are definitely burning a hole in their pockets.
Their main man upfront, Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang earns £200,000 a week. But what is concerning is that Alexandre Lacazette, who plays second fiddle to the Gabonese international pockets £182,000 per week as well. The Gunners could definitely manage their funds better.
#9 Atletico Madrid - £5.37 million/player
Atletico Madrid's wage bill (per player) for the season comes up to £5.37 million. Atletico Madrid have recently been growing in reputation as big spenders but they have been wiser about their finances than a lot of other top clubs.
The highest earner at Atletico is goalkeeper Jan Oblak who takes home £350,000 every week. Jan Oblak is one of the best goalkeepers in the world right now and his wages are more or less justified.
Atletico Madrid just got kicked out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals but they have looked steady over the course of the season.
#8 Liverpool - £5.53 million/player
Liverpool's recruitment and transfer activity over the past few years have been excellent. Not only have they got good money for the players they sold, but they also invested it wisely and improved the team by bringing in the right players.
Liverpool's annual average wage bill comes up to £5.53 million (per player) and Mohamed Salah is their highest earner making £200,000 a week. Mohamed Salah has been one of Liverpool's best players over the last several seasons and he is definitely worth the money he is being given.
The wage bill is well evened out over the rest of the squad that's packed with some really good players like Virgil Van Dijk, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino etc.
#7 Manchester United - £6.12 million/player
Manchester United's wage bill comes up to £6.12 million per player. Well, it looked much worse just a couple of weeks back when Alexis Sanchez was still on their payroll. Severing ties with the overpaid Chilean has definitely lightened the Red Devils' wage bill.
Manchester United's highest earner is David de Gea who takes home a whopping £375,000 a week. Sadly for Manchester United, De Gea has been rather ordinary after signing his new bumper contract. They would like to believe that it is a blip and that he will find his best form soon.
United have quite a few big money earners in their squad. The trio of Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford take home £290,000, £250,000 and £200,000 per week.
#6 Bayern Munich - £6.19 million/player
Bayern Munich are one of the best teams in Europe and are looking nearly unstoppable after dismantling Barcelona by 8 goals to 2 in their recently concluded UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie.
Bayern's wage bill comes up to £6.19 million per player. Robert Lewandowski is currently on £275,000 per week. He is definitely worth all that money and then some. The Pole has scored a mindboggling 55 goals from 46 appearances this season.
Bayern Munich have deeper pockets than any of the Bundesliga clubs and the fact that they can hold on to their best players thanks to their financial muscle is one of the reasons why they have remained at the top.
#5 Paris Saint-Germain - £6.81 million/player
Paris Saint-Germain has 2 of the most expensive players in the world in Neymar and Mbappe. it is then no surprise that they pay £6.81 million per player every year. It could be argued that PSG are perhaps overpaying their players in a league that they have absolutely dominated over the past 8 years.
Neymar is PSG's highest earner, taking home £600,000 a week. They also have the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Angel Di Maria and Marco Verratti who are all big earners.
Whether Neymar's wages are justified is debatable but he definitely is one of the best players in the world and this is the kind of money it takes these days to keep a talent like that at your club.
#4 Manchester City - £6.98 million/player
Pep Guardiola's Manchester City squad has a lot of depth. Pep Guardiola has been insistent on getting top quality players in every position and as a result, Manchester City foot a wage bill of £6.98 million per player ever year.
Kevin De Bruyne is their biggest earner and he gets £320,000 per week. KDB is easily one of the best midfielders on the planet right now. However, City have just come off a difficult season after losing the Premier League title to Liverpool and failing to get past the UEFA Champions League quarter-final for the third time in a row.
Are City going to shell out more money to make things right? We can only wait and watch.
#3 Juventus - £7.71 million/player
Juventus may have won their 9th consecutive Scudetto but all is not well in Turin. Their manager Maurizio Sarri has been sacked and Andrea Pirlo has been appointed in his position. Juve have always been shrewd spenders in the transfer window and that perhaps helps them accommodate a hefty wage bill.
The Bianconeri spend £7.71 million per player every year. Cristiano Ronaldo earns £540,000 per week and since he has been their most important player this season, it'd be hard to make an argument against it since Juventus are also wise spenders in the transfer market.
But they have a lot of ageing players on exorbitant wages and that is something they are looking to sort out before the next season starts.
#2 Real Madrid - £8.5 million/player
It was a season of mixed fortunes for the Blancos. They pipped Barcelona to the La Liga title but were eliminated from the UEFA Champions League in the Round of 16 by Manchester City. There are calls for a rebuild and Real Madrid's activity in the transfer window will make for interesting observation.
Real Madrid are one of the biggest clubs in the world and it is then fitting that their wage bill is this high too. They pay £8.5 million per player. However, what's worrying is the fact that Gareth Bale is their biggest earner and he pockets £600,000 a week and hardly ever plays after rebelling against the club.
They have other big earners like Eden Hazard on their payroll as well. No wonder the club is under severe financial strain in the Covid pandemic scenario.
#1 Barcelona - £9.37 million/year
It has been a nightmarish season for Barcelona by their own standards. They sacked their manager halfway through the season, then lost the La Liga title to Real Madrid and was absolutely humiliated by Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.
Barcelona have reasons to worry because they have an ageing squad and pay a whopping £9.37 million per player as wages. Lionel Messi reportedly earns £1.15 million per week. They also have players like Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele, Luis Suarez etc. on their payroll and are hence needed to furnish a lot of money just to keep their players paid.
When players are being paid that much money and there are no results to show for it, then the blame falls on the management and the Barcelona board has been in the limelight for all the wrong reasons this season.
