Over the years, money in the world of football has increased exponentially. Gone are the days of buying world class players for small amounts of money. We now live in a world where players are regularly being sold and purchased for $100m+ with such examples of Neymar to PSG, Kylian Mbappe to PSG, Coutinho to Barcelona and Ousmane Dembele to Barcelona. While transfer fees have increased, so have the wages with players and agents being able to command huge wages on top of any transfer fee that is paid for them.
This money has come from inflated sponsorship contracts and TV money. Fly Emirates is a huge company that sponsors clubs such as Real Madrid, Arsenal and AC Milan for huge amounts of money which allows these clubs to buy world class talent.
Clubs such as Paris Saint Germain and Manchester City have huge financial backing from the Middle East as both clubs have the same goal: Win the Champions League. These clubs can spend big money on both transfer fees and wages without the need to worry about player sales. Then there are clubs in China with extremely rich owners who pay higher wages to not as talented players such as Graziano Pelle, Oscar and Hulk who have to offer more money to make the club more attractive.
One such example of the huge wages being commanded is Neymar. According to Betting sites, the third highest earner in the list making $10,245.9 an hour, $7,377,045.18 a month and $89,754,098.36 a year! After his world record transfer to Paris Saint Germain from FC Barcelona for over $200m he then was able to command a huge wage on top of that because that is what the club can afford and that’s what the club value him at.
The second highest earner on the list is Cristiano Ronaldo making $12,295.08 an hour, $8,852,459.02 a month and $107,704,918.03 a year. After his big money move from Real Madrid to Juventus in Summer 2018, he then commanded a huge wage on top of his transfer fee which the Bianconeri were more than willing to pay. Juventus were in the same position as Paris Saint Germain, they were willing to pay the wages for Cristiano Ronaldo as he’s a world class player and Juventus could easily afford it with the huge sponsorship that Cristiano Ronaldo was going to bring to the club.
The highest earner
The highest earner on the list is Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona earning $12,636.61 an hour, $9,098,360.66 a month and $110,696,721.31 a year. Lionel Messi has been at FC Barcelona for over 15 years. Since Lionel Messi never had to transfer to FC Barcelona he never commanded a huge transfer fee which then means FC Barcelona can afford to pay him more than required which is why Lionel Messi is the highest paid footballer on the planet.
Infographic source: https://www.betting-sites.uk.com/soccer-earnings/