Sport is a strange thing – a world where athletes are paid incredible sums of money in exchange for living the most alien of lives. Chased every day and abused all day throughout social media, the expectation is that you live like a hero, but have more money than you could ever possibly live sensibly with. For example, take Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona and Argentina.
According to Bettingsites’ infographic, he earns $110m per year. That shows you the level of his skill; as the star face of one of the richest sporting organisations in the world, Messi must feel entitled to such riches. That being said, the Argentine has never been a player to cause controversy. You never see Messi in the press being drunk of abusive to people. You never hear of him causing problems, going on strike; that kind of thing. It’s one of the main reasons why a lot of people can see the double-edged sword of being a footballer.
Infographic source: https://www.betting-sites.uk.com/soccer-earnings/
Messi earns money than some of the most successful business minds in the world. Messi, though, lives the cleanest of lives: even giving into temptation slightly could utterly derail his progress. It’s easy to see, then, why some players give up the challenge of top European football for high salaries without the expected standards.
The top 20 footballers: from all over the world, with varying ambitions
For example, take the last player on the list, Edinson Cavani. Cavani has become the all-time top goalscorer for Paris Saint-Germain: he earns around $19.5/year. However, the player who came before him at PSG – and often with him – was Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swede has moved on from Paris, and instead went to the LA Galaxy.
According to the infographic, Zlatan – despite moving to a lower standard of league and competition – earns more than his former teammate. On around $21m/year, Ibrahimovic has manged to land a larger wage with a fraction of the challenge and physical demand being placed upon him.
The same, too, goes for players like Hulk. The Brazil international made a series of curious club career choices, playing for both Zenit Saint-Petersburg and Shanghai SIPG since he broke through with FC Porto. Having chosen to earn just under $22m/year in China, though, it’s fair to say that Hulk probably has to put in less effort now than he did when he was in Portugal or Russia.
Some players will be happy to pick up their massive cheques in leagues without the same profile or demands upon them. Others will be happy to earn less to increase their day-to-day challenge. For example, it’s rumoured that Neymar Jr – third on the list at just under $90/year – might be happy to take a pay cut to get back to the more competitive Spanish La Liga that he left behind.
Some players move for money and for lower challenges, others move for less money and higher challenges. At the top end of the sport, though, it’s all about what you want: do you want the riches in the form of trophies? Or the riches in cold hard cash?
