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The Serie A is the highest level of professional football in Italy, contested by clubs like Juventus, AS Roma, Inter Milan and Napoli.
Some of the most legendary players of all time have plied their trade in the league including Ronaldo de Lima, Diego Maradona, Marco van Basten, Paolo Maldini, Gianluigi Buffon, Francesco Totti, Gabriel Batistuta just to name a few.
The league was once universally accepted as the most competitive in the world. Its clubs were also among the most financially prosperous and regularly broke transfer records for players and attracted the best footballers in the world.
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These days, the competition has greatly reduced from the Scudetto, thanks to Juventus' total domination of the league. However even its reputation as a 'one horse' league, the Serie A is still among the most followed league in the world and is currently ranked as the third best league in Europe according to UEFA's latest coefficient rankings.
Though it might be some way off the commerciality and marketability of more prosperous leagues like the English Premier League and La Liga, the Serie A is no slouch when it comes to financial clout.
In this piece, we shall be having a rundown of the five highest paid players in the Serie A, although their figures are significantly lower when compared to their La Liga and Premier League counterparts.
#5 Ivan Perisic (Inter Milan) - €100,000 / week
Perisic made a name for himself in the Belgian League with Club Brugge and further boosted his reputation with his displays at Borussia Dortmund and VFL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga which earned him a transfer to Inter Milan in 2015.
The 30-year-old courted world attention in Russia last year when he played a starring role in helping Croatia to the World Cup final, scoring three goals and creating two assists. He also covered the most ground of any player at the tournament.
This prompted interest from then United boss Jose Mourinho, but the deal fell through, which came as sweet music to the ears of the Nerazzurri faithful, as Perisic has been one of the most instrumental members of their team.
So far this season, he has performed some way below his usual standards, but with 33 goals from 131 Serie A matches since arriving the San Siro, Perisic more than justifies the €100,000 he earns weekly.
#4 Miralem Pjanic (Juventus) - €110,000 / week
Bosnia-Herzegovina has seen a major upturn in their footballing fortunes in recent years. There has been a rise in the profile of their international players and Miralem Pjanic has been the country's biggest football export (after Edin Dzeko).
The 28-year-old had distinguished himself in France with Metz and Lyon before gaining attention in Italy with Roma, starring for the Giallorossi for five seasons.
He transferred to perennial Serie A champions Juventus in the summer of 2016 for a sum of €32 million and he further helped the Turin giants consolidate their grip in the Italian league with his assured displays from the middle of the pack.
Deadly at set-pieces and excellent with his distribution, Pjanic has been immense with his displays for Juventus, so it came as no major surprise when he signed a contract extension at the start of this season. The new contract now sees him earn the sum of €110,000 every week to make him the second highest paid player at the cub.
#3 Mauro Icardi (Inter Milan) - €135,000 / week
For all the negative publicity he has attracted for his controversies off the field, one thing detractors cannot take away from Mauro Icardi is his penchant for delivering on the field of play for his team.
The 26-year-old joined Inter Milan in 2013 and in just six years has scored 122 goals in 210 appearances for the club to place ninth on the list of Inter's top scorers.
He was made the captain of the Nerazzurri in 2015 and played an important role in helping the club qualify for their first Champions League in seven years at the end of the 2017/2018 season - a campaign which also saw him tie Ciro Immobile for the Serie A Golden Boot having scored 29 goals in 36 matches.
The Argentine international is currently embroiled in a dispute with Inter Milan. It also involved his wife and agent, Wanda Nara, which saw him stripped off his captaincy and refuse to turn up for training.
Inter fans worldwide would be hoping for a speedy resolution to the impasse, as Icardi costs the club a massive €135,000 in wages every week. At the same time, they also need him for their top four battle in the Serie A.
#2 Daniele De Rossi (AS Roma) - €150,000 / week
Roma fans' second favorite player (after Francesco Totti), Daniele De Rossi is the quintessential representation of a one-club man, having represented only AS Roma ever since he made his debut for his boyhood club in 2001.
During his time with the capital club, the 35-year-old has helped the team to three major honors, while also tasting World Cup glory with Italy in 2006 as the youngest member of the Azzurri squad.
De Rossi is very much the definition of a 'complete midfielder', as he is blessed with wonderful vision, tackling ability, passing range and goalscoring ability. He could have represented a number of higher profile European clubs but stayed true to his roots, endearing himself forever to the hearts of the Roma faithful (much like the man he inherited the captain's armband from).
With 612 official appearances, De Rossi is Roma's second highest appearance maker behind Francesco Totti. He signed a two-year contract extension with the club in 2017 which now sees him earn €150,000 weekly and make him one of the highest paid player in the league.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) - €565,000 / week
Cristiano Ronaldo is surely the best player in the world at the moment and one of the best of all time, so it came as a major surprise when Real Madrid stalled to make him the highest paid player in the world, especially considering all that he had contributed for the club.
Juventus took advantage of the situation and broke their club record to sign the Portuguese icon for a fee of €100m.
This was seen by many as a colossal waste of money considering that Ronaldo was about to turn 34. However, the fact of the matter is that Ronaldo is no ordinary 34-year-old and Juventus have already started making massive financial gains from his arrival.
The club made him one of the highest paid player in the world. With Italian dominance all but guaranteed with or without him, the only way he can repay the huge outlay to get him is in the Champions League and Ronaldo has gone some way in doing so, starting with his stirring hat-trick to eliminate Atletico Madrid.
