Top 5 Underpaid Footballers in the World
Footballers often get a lot of stick for being paid ridiculous amounts of money on a weekly basis by their clubs on top of all the revenue they garner from ads and promotions from their individual sponsors.
They have often been criticised for creating a bubble for themselves and detaching themselves from the rest of the world due to the extravagant lifestyle they can treat themselves to thanks to all the money they receive.
However, football is one of the most closely scrutinized sports in the world. The amount of pressure that is put on players, both and young and old, is ridiculously huge. So, they are somewhat justified in having the sort of remuneration that is head and shoulders above the majority of professions in the world.
A player's wage is determined by a lot of factors including his quality and his club's financial structure. Some clubs are more close-fisted than the rest and some just really don't honour their players with the right amount of money for their contributions.
On that note, let's take a look at the top 5 underpaid footballers in the world right now.
(Stats courtesy- Transfermarkt, Sillyseason, Totalsportek)
#5 Christian Eriksen- £75,000/week
It is plain criminal that a player of Christian Eriksen's quality, who can create magic on the field with his vision, silky dribbles and impeccable passing, is paid less than half of what he could be making in the footballing world.
Eriksen is paid a meagre £75,000-per-week at Tottenham Hotspur. The Dane has been one of the most crucial cogs of Pochettino's system that has propelled Spurs to a place of relevance in Europe. Tottenham play an exciting brand of football and Eriksen is at the heart of it.
He has 14 goals and 11 assists to his name across all competitions this season. It's not just the numbers. Eriksen's calming presence in the final third and his ability to score screamers has helped Tottenham eke out points that would have otherwise been impossible to pocket.
Tottenham Hotspur have a very rigid wage structure and this has often stopped them from being able to keep hold of their best players and if they don't improve Eriksen's wages, the player, who could yet hit his peak, he might very well move to another big club that makes him feel more valued.