Reports: PSG star Neymar's staggering annual salary is as much as Atalanta's entire squad
French champions PSG, led from the front by their talismanic forward Neymar Jr, are set to take on the biggest surprise in the UEFA Champions League, Atalanta on Wednesday.
The two clubs come from different backgrounds in every regard. PSG are the perennial champions of the land, which has been the case for almost a decade now, and are UCL regulars despite not having won it since the turn of the century. Atalanta, on the other hand, are playing their first-ever European campaign after an immensely successful 2018/19 domestic campaign saw them finish third.
However, despite various differences they face, perhaps none of them are more astonishing than the difference in their salaries and financial muscle.
PSG ace Neymar earns as much as Atalanta's squad
According to reports from L'Equipe, PSG star Neymar is paid a basic salary of €30m, which goes up to approximately €36m after the addition of bonus clauses.
In complete contrast, Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Atalanta's highest-earners — Alejandro 'Papu' Gomez, Luis Muriel, and Duvan Zapata — are all on deals that see them earn €1.2m, going up to €1.8 with bonuses.
In fact, the Atalanta squad's combined salary is reportedly between €33-36m, a figure which comparable to what Neymar alone is paid by PSG.
PSG's second-highest earner is Kylian Mbappe, who is said to be earning around €16m annually, while Thiago Silva is close in behind at €11m. Neymar and Mbappe's partner in attack, Mauro Icardi, earns a reported €5.7m a year.
This would mean that the combined total annual salary of the PSG's front three — tallying up to roughly €55m — is a staggering eleven times that of what Atalanta's front-three are paid, which is approximately €5m.
Neymar is currently the most expensive player in the world, after being purchased by PSG for an unprecedented transfer fee of €222m. PSG's club-record signing costs a whopping eleven times higher than that of Atalanta's. Colombian forward Luis Muriel arrived at the Gewiss Stadium from Sevilla in a €20.1m deal, which is the most that Atalanta have paid for a player in their history.
This disparity in financial firepower will be of little relevance once the high-octane showdown between both clubs kicks off in Portugal.
Despite their lavish spending, PSG are yet to even breach the final four of the UCL under their new ownership. Neymar would hope to take matters into his own hands and fire PSG to glory. With Mbappe also set to return after a miraculous recovery from his horrible injury in the French Cup final. They will be set to battle for a spot in the semi-final of the UCL.
Also read: Atalanta vs Paris Saint-Germain: 5 key battles to watch out for | UEFA Champions League 2019-20