It probably won’t surprise anyone to know that players from Manchester United, Real Madrid and PSG are among the highest-earning stars in the world.
Despite their recent struggles, United are still one of the biggest teams in the world and the Premier League’s financial strength has it well placed above the others in terms of how ludicrous a wage they can offer.
PSG are bankrolled by Qatar Sports Investments and continue to spend money as they chase their elusive Champions League glory and Madrid have always offered big wages to their galacticos.
But United, Madrid and PSG aren’t the only teams in Europe’s top five leagues who have handed out enormous contracts to players in recent years.
We’ve listed the top 10 earners and their weekly wages, rounded to the nearest thousand from each of Europe’s top five leagues and the differences between the top earners in each league are quite staggering.
Premier League
1. Cristiano Ronaldo – £515,000
2. Kevin De Bruyne – £400,000
3. David de Gea – £375,000
4. Philippe Coutinho – £351,000
5. Jadon Sancho – £350,000
6. Raphael Varane – £340,000
7. Romelu Lukaku – £325,000
8. Raheem Sterling – £300,000
9. Jack Grealish – £300,000
10. Paul Pogba – £290,000
There is a clear Manchester dominance in the Premier League, with Manchester City and United players taking up eight of the top 10 spots.
Romelu Lukaku and Jack Grealish both made big-money moves last summer and they both feature, but they have often disappointed this season. The Chelsea and Man City attackers have just seven Premier League goals between them at the time of writing.
Jadon Sancho and Paul Pogba of Manchester United have both been criticised for their performances in what has been a disappointing season for their club, and Pogba looks set to depart on a free transfer in the summer, which will save his club a large sum of money every week.
Philippe Coutinho, on loan at Aston Villa from Barcelona, also features, but…