Top 5 football clubs with the highest wage bills in Europe
Being a professional footballer means your job comes under heavy scrutiny. The levels that need to be reached on a regular basis is unreal and the pressure can be overwhelming. Consequently, football players are also some of the highest paid individuals in the world.
To field some of the finest talents in the world, football clubs have to dish out a lot of money. It's a circle and the best that the clubs can hope for is that the money pumped into paying the player salaries translate to great performances on the football pitch which would then pay dividends in terms of sponsorship deals and prize money.
Obviously, some of the biggest clubs in Europe also have the highest wage bills. Let's take a look at five football clubs with the highest wage bills in Europe.
#5 Bayern Munich - €144 million
Given how dominant Bayern Munich are currently in Europe, it should come as no surprise that Bayern Munich also foots one of the highest wage bills in the footballing world. The Bavarians have some of the best youngsters and experienced players in the continent on their payroll.
Bayern Munich's highest earner is Leroy Sane who earns £385,000 per week. He is followed by the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Manuel Neuer and Thomas Muller who all earn in excess of £250,000 per week.
They recently got Coutinho off their payroll as he returned to Barcelona after his loan spell and that has eased up some funds. However, they still hold on to a wealth of top talent and youngsters and their wage bill is only expected to go higher.
#4 Manchester United - €179 million
The Red Devils might be inconsistent on the pitch but they have been consistently fielding very expensive teams for a very long time now. Manchester United have looked like they are world beaters in one moment and then bang-average in the very next.
However, with the likes of David de Gea and Paul Pogba on their payroll, it is no real surprise that they feature among the teams with the highest wage bills in Europe. Manchester United have been infamous for overpaying some mediocre players of late and this has now come to bite them in the back.
The likes of Harry Maguire, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford are also high earners. However, they will all need to up their productivity on the football pitch if they're to justify their salaries.