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Football is by far the most global and popular game in the world, with followership running into billions around the world and this has had a concordant effect on its marketability, as television stations and multinational brands fall over themselves in a bid to be associated with the biggest football leagues.
When it comes to football leagues in the world, there are not much bigger than the Spanish La Liga, as the 89-year-old league has distinguished itself as one of the pioneer football leagues on the planet.
La Liga was home to two of the greatest players in history for nine years, as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi battled it out for supremacy and even though one half of the eternal pair has departed, La Liga is still widely followed as clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid still maintain a global appeal.
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The modern football game is one with an influx of tremendous amounts of cash, with the result being that the biggest players in the world are paid obscene amounts of money, making professional football at the top level one of the most lucrative careers anywhere.
La Liga has more than its own fair share of highly paid players and in this piece, we shall be having a rundown of the top five highest paid players in the Spanish La Liga.
Also see : Womens World Cup Bracket, Copa America Standings, Gold Cup Standings
#5 Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona) - £240,000 / week
Having performed at an optimal level for Liverpool in the Premier League, Barcelona splashed the cash to sign the Brazilian international for £145m in January 2018, thus making him the most expensive player of all time at the Catalan club and the third costliest in history.
It was expected that he would bring his Liverpool form with him to the Camp Nou and make the Barcelona attack even scarier, but despite having a solid debut half-season with the club, Coutinho has looked horribly off form this season, struggling to impose himself in the squad and looking nothing like the confident player he was at Anfield.
Coutinho's struggles have been so blatant that It has been suggested that he could be on his way out of the club which is rather pitiful considering his massive £240,000 weekly wages in addition to the club record fee expended to sign him.
#4 Luis Suarez (Barcelona) - £290,000 / week
Ever since he switched from Liverpool to Barcelona in the summer of 2014, Luis Suarez has taken his extremely high-performance levels to even higher proportions, with his potency in front of goal being extremely crucial to Barcelona's successes since then.
The Uruguayan international has distinguished himself as the premier goalscorer in the world over the last decade and played his way into the annals of history at the legendary clubs - Ajax, Liverpool and Barcelona.
With 173 goals scored in just 237 matches in all competitions for the Blaugrana, Suarez is undoubtedly an indispensable member of the Barcelona first team, while his over 400 career goals place him as one of the highest scoring active footballers in the world.
A contract extension signed in 2016 sees Suarez earn the princely sum of £290,000 every week, which is just compensation for his immense contributions to Barcelona.
#3 Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid) - £342,307 / week
Atletico Madrid have made steady gains in recent years, progressing from a mid-table La Liga side into one of the genuine heavyweights of European football, winning a couple of trophies and making it to two Champions League finals.
This newfound pedigree expectedly rubbed off on their finances and Los Rojiblancos soon found themselves in the upper echelons of football's elite.
One key member of their squad in recent years has been former Real Sociedad man Antoine Griezmann, who has performed at an optimal level since his 2014 arrival from the Anoeta, twice finishing in third place at the Ballon d'Or votes.
It, therefore, came as no surprise to see the World Cup winner linked with a move away from the Wanda, with Griezmann turning down a move to Manchester United in 2017 after it was revealed that Atletico could not replace him due to their transfer ban.
The speculations however continued, and Barcelona were the next in line - making a serious €100m bid for him, which was turned down.
Just days after helping France to triumph at the 2018 World Cup, Griezmann penned new terms with Atleti, with details revealing he pockets £342,307 weekly and fans of the club would hope that this would serve as incentive enough for him to lead them to the much sought after Champions League title.
#2 Gareth Bale (Real Madrid) - £350,000 / week
Gareth Bale was once the most expensive player in history, following his £86m transfer to Real Madrid from Tottenham in the summer of 2013.
Even though the Welshman has played a role in helping Real Madrid to one of its most successful periods in their illustrious history, there are many who are yet to be truly convinced by the 29-year-old, evidenced by the numerous booeing he has been subjected to by the Bernabeu crowd.
The departure of Ronaldo was expected to pave the way for Bale to become the leader of the Real Madrid team, but that has not been the case as he continues to flounder, with reports suggesting that he might be let go in the summer by Zinedine Zidane.
His last contract signed in 2016 saw Gareth Bale's pay hiked to a massive £350,000 per week (the same as Ronaldo at the time) and this is a rather colossal waste of money, as Bale's performances in no way match his remuneration.
#1 Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - £500,000 / week
It would have been a major travesty if anyone else topped this list, as nobody past or present (except perhaps Ronaldo) can claim to have impacted the course of La Liga's history in the way that Messi has.
The Argentine international has been nothing short of phenomenal - bordering on alienlike in his displays for the Blaugrana, helping the Catalans to a total of 33 major honours, including four Champions League trophies, nine La Ligas and two treble winning campaigns.
As the club's and to a larger extent the league's prime performer, it goes without saying that Messi should be the highest paid player in La Liga, and Barcelona made sure of that in some style.
He earns £150,000 more than anyone else in the league every week and incredibly, unlike most other professional football contacts, Messi's wages are post-tax, which means that his taxes are not deducted from his earnings but rather handled by Barcelona, which is the least they can do considering all Messi has given to them.
