Yet another long season has finally come to an end and it had its share of surprises, ups and downs, and a bit of the norm over the past 10 months. In the end, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Juventus, Bayern Munich, and AS Monaco walked away with the league titles in Europe’s top five leagues.
In today’s game, money talks. It has been the case for the past decade or so ever since the game became a cash cow for super rich owners and commercial partners. As more money was poured in, both transfer fees and wages for players increased to make it one of the most lucrative professions in the world today.
So which team spent the most on player wages in the 2016/17 season? We look at the top 10.
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10) Juventus – £181m
Juventus have come a long way in the past 10 years. After the shameful Calciopoli scandal that saw The Old Lady relegated to Serie B, they bounced back in the following years, first to qualify for the Europa League before winning Serie A titles and qualifying for the Champions League.
Now, they have won six consecutive Serie A titles and have reached the Champions League twice, showing remarkable consistency while the rest of the Italian clubs faltered and struggled to achieve the same level of quality as Juve.
Juve also made a number of top signings which increased its wage bill to put them in the top 10. Gonzalo Higuain was signed for approximately £78m and he earns close to £6.7m per year. Other high earners are also the more recent signings such as Miralem Pjanic (£4.8m), Sami Khedira, and Dani Alves (£3.5m each).
9) Liverpool – £200m
After reaching two Champions League finals in 2005 and 2007, Liverpool lost their way soon after as ownership issues embroiled the club in turmoil until they found some semblance of stability. Their league form also suffered and have only qualified for the Champions League in two seasons since 2010 – the most recent being this season.
Under Jurgen Klopp, the side have looked like world beaters on their day but have also struggled to break down weaker sides. The Reds had the best record against the top six sides in the Premier League and qualified for the Champions League on the final day of the season at the expense of perennial participants Arsenal.
The club don’t have any superstars as such compared to their counterparts at the top of the table. The highest-earning player is Philippe Coutinho at £150K per week followed by three players at £120K per week, namely James Milner, Adam Lallana, and Daniel Sturridge.
8) Bayern Munich – £225m
To say that Bayern Munich dominate the Bundesliga would be an understatement. The Bavarian club are miles ahead of any other side in Germany and have won the last five Bundesliga titles in a row (2012/13 to 2016/17).
It has reached a point where any coach who takes over the club is expected to win the title now and winning just a league title does not count as a successful season. It is partly their doing too as they poach the best talents from other German clubs and lure them with higher wages.
The highest earning player at the club is Robert Lewandowski at £140K per week. One of the main reasons he left Borussia Dortmund was because he felt he wasn’t being given his due because he was Polish and not German.
At Bayern, he is top dog followed by Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben, and the retiring Philipp Lahm who are on close to £140K per week as well. Mats Hummels, Thomas Muller, Arturo Vidal, and Manuel Neuer earn around £130K per week.
7) Arsenal – £234m
Arsene Wenger’s reign is set to continue at Arsenal after he signed a new two-year extension amidst calls from the fans asking him to leave the club because they feel it’s time for a change. After failing to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 2000, it almost became a reality before he won the FA Cup (Arsenal's 13th and his seventh).
Their two biggest signings in history earn the most at the club currently – Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez earn £140K per week followed by Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey at £110K per week.
Wenger has ensured that the socialist wage structure at the club sees most players earn similar wages but this philosophy has seen star players leave and it sometimes leaves the club in a position where they cannot move players on due to other clubs failing to meet the player’s wage demands.
With the Gunners slipping into the Europa League, either Ozil and Alexis (whose contracts run out in 2018) will leave or the club will have to give them a massive pay hike to convince them to stay.
6) Paris Saint-Germain – £239m
Looking to follow in the footsteps of Chelsea and Manchester City were Paris Saint-Germain who completely upended Ligue 1 and effectively destroyed any competition in the league. The French league was easily the most competitive league in Europe between 2007 and 2012 as five different clubs won the title.
Enter money from the Middle-East and PSG signed every other top quality player in Europe to become a dominant force in France. In doing so, they won the league titles between 2012/13 to 2015/16.
But following the departures of stars such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Luiz, they finally lost their stranglehold in France as a resurgent Monaco won the title this year. Still, it didn’t stop their players from pocketing a hefty paycheck.
Thiago Silva takes home £240K per week followed by Angel Di Maria at £200K per week and Edinson Cavani at £175K per week.
5) Manchester City – £248m
Since the arrival of Pep Guardiola, Manchester City tried to get him the best squad possible to win the title in his debut season and the club’s first in three years. However, while Guardiola was not short on attacking options, his ageing defence let him down this season.
The squad will undergo a massive cull this summer and already four players have been let go while midfielder Bernardo Silva and goalkeeper Ederson have already been signed from Monaco and Benfica respectively.
Long-time servants Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure both took home £220K per week while Raheem Sterling is on £180K per week. Other high earners include David Silva at £160K per week and Kevin De Bruyne at £150K per week.
4) Real Madrid – £250m
It is surprising to see Real Madrid only fourth on this list but that is the direction Zinedine Zidane has gone in. He is not a firm believer in the Galacticos project his club president Florentino Perez espouses and has built a squad with the players he has and adding young talents who don’t have their heads in the clouds.
It is a strategy that has worked well for Zizou with Real Madrid winning their first league title in five years and they have also reached three Champions League finals in four years.
Cristiano Ronaldo may not be the most expensive player at the club anymore but he still draws the highest salary at £365K per week. He is closely followed by Gareth Bale at £350K per week. They are the only two players who command such high salaries with the rest below £200K per week.
Luka Modric takes home £180K per week while Sergio Ramos earns £160K per week. The third wheel in the BBC Karim Benzema earns only £150K per week, the same as Toni Kroos.
3) Chelsea – £256m
Ever since Roman Abramovich bought the club, he has pumped in more than a billion pounds to make Chelsea a competitive side. The club also has a revolving door for managers coming and going (read as fired) but it is a ‘philosophy’ that has worked with Chelsea winning trophies on a regular basis.
They won the league at a canter with Antonio Conte in charge thanks in part to a 13-match winning run after the Italian manager changed the formation. He didn’t get to make any big signings last summer but expect him to do so with support from the club this summer.
The Blues’ highest earner is Eden Hazard at £200K per week followed by Diego Costa at £185K per week. Cesc Fabregas and John Terry took home around £150K per week while David Luiz and Thibaut Courtois earned £120K per week. Luiz had even taken a pay cut to rejoin Chelsea following his stint at PSG.
2) Manchester United – £265m
Jose Mourinho’s arrival signalled the end of dilly-dallying and going for second-choice candidates to take over the hot seat at Old Trafford and the club meant business by breaking the transfer record to re-sign Paul Pogba for £89m.
However, their biggest signing was Zlatan Ibrahimovic – a transfer coup of epic proportions as they signed him for free after his contract at PSG came to an end. Together, they elevated the squad to a trophy-winning side that has qualified for the Champions League yet again after a brief hiatus.
At £290K per week, Pogba is now the highest earner at the club while club captain Wayne Rooney earns £250K per week. Ibrahimovic reportedly takes home £230K per week while the only other player to earn £200K or more is David De Gea at £200K per week.
1) Barcelona – £ 279m
After winning the treble in 2014/15 and the domestic double last season, Barcelona have not had the best of seasons in 2016/17. What was supposed to be a promising campaign after some significant investment saw Luis Enrique finally announce his departure and all the Catalan club has to show for this season is a Copa del Rey trophy.
Lionel Messi remains the club’s highest-earning player at £335K per week. The Argentine forward only has a year remaining on his contract but new manager Ernesto Valverde has assured fans that the club is in final talks with the talisman to extend his contract.
Brazilian forward Neymar earns £275K per week while the third member of the MSN trio Luis Suarez takes home £230K per week. No other player earns more than £200K per week. The next highest earners are Andres Iniesta at £165K per week and Sergio Busquets at £140K per week.
Also read: European Team of the Year for 2016/17 – Do Messi and Ronaldo make the cut?
