For the past several years, the battle for the world’s highest-paid footballer has been between the two leading players of this generation, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Even now, as Ronaldo has just signed a contract extension at Real Madrid, Messi is currently negotiating an extension of his own with Barcelona. As one put pen to paper on a new contract and flashed a smile at his financial largesse, the other will likely follow shortly with an even larger smile (and paycheck).
But on Thursday a new usurper took over the throne, for now. Argentinian Carlos Tevez signed with Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua, with the 32-year-old striker reportedly set to earn $752,000 a week. The deal demonstrates the financial muscle Chinese soccer now possesses, as shown by this list of the top 10 highest paid football players. Here they are:
Carlos Tevez – $39.1 million (Shanghai Shenhua)
When Tevez left Champions League finalist Juventus to rejoin his boyhood club Boca Juniors, taking a salary cut in the process, he insisted that “money doesn’t buy happiness.” Fast forward just 18 months later and his words ring hollow. However, it would be hard to begrudge the former Manchester United and Manchester City forward for accepting the sort of deal that he couldn’t have seen coming — one that gives him more than 20 times the salary he was earning in Buenos Aires. Aside from his salary, Shanghai will be paying a transfer fee of $11 million to his club team Boca Juniors (although 60% of that sum will be refunded should Tevez leave after the first year of his two-year deal).
Oscar – $25.4 million (Shanghai SIPG)
Having spent this season sitting on the bench at Chelsea, there was little surprise that he would accept a salary that skyrocketed him towards the top of the best-paid players in the world. Although he hasn’t been featured of late for Chelsea, the 25-year-old is in the prime of his career, ensuring that the deal financed by the Shanghai International Port Group should pay off in the long run. While Chelsea might not have been keen on the transfer initially, the $80 million they’ll receive as a transfer fee should help to soften the loss.
Cristiano Ronaldo – $23.2 million (Real Madrid)
Ronaldo’s re-emergence as the world’s highest paid footballer lasted less than two months. He’d just inked a new five-year deal to keep him at Real Madrid until the age of 36, a pay rise that he likely thought was well earned just before picking up his fourth Ballon d’Or award. However, Ronaldo must now deal with a reality in which Tevez, once a teammate of his at Manchester United, now earns almost twice his base salary while playing away from the center stage of European football.
Gareth Bale – $22.2 million (Real Madrid)
The Welsh forward, who became the world’s most expensive player when signing at Real Madrid from Tottenham in 2013, had a brief reign as the highest paid footballer when he signed a new deal at the end of October. But with Ronaldo still around, he was never going to remain top dog at the Bernabeu for long. While four years younger than Ronaldo, however, he might feel that time is on his side.
Hulk – $20.3 million (Shanghai SIPG)
Before Oscar’s signing, Shanghai SIPG broke the Chinese record transfer fee (at the time) to land fellow Brazilian Hulk from Russian side Zenit St Petersburg. The 30-year-old forward began his repayment on that investment by scoring five goals in seven games to inaugurate his career in China. And no, they didn’t sign Lou Ferrigno.
Lionel Messi – $19.9 million (Barcelona FC)
Messi has now been locked in negotiations to extend his contract with Barcelona, signed in 2014, for some time. And there is now the prospect that fellow Argentinian Tevez’s huge deal could impact those negotiations. Certainly, Messi, still widely regarded as the best player on the planet, will feel he is worth more than he currently takes home. While the Blaugrana management is working hard to sign an extension with their superstar, thus far progress has been slow.
Paul Pogba – $18.4 million (Manchester United)
Pogba was the most expensive player at the time when he left Juventus to return to Manchester United this past summer, including the transfer fee of around $110 million. In spite of a somewhat tepid start, at age 23, there’s still plenty of time to show that the French midfielder was worth Manchester United’s investment in him in the coming years.
Neymar – $16.73 million (Barcelona FC)
Neymar improved his financial terms substantially when he signed a new contract extension with Barcelona in October. However, his salary now seems comparatively meager given what has been proffered by the Chinese league to lesser players. As the man looked upon to take the mantle of the world’s best player when Messi and Ronaldo leave the scene, the Brazilian’s business manager will surely be keeping a close eye on the Chinese salary expenditures. Keep in mind that his business manager is his father.
Graziano Pellè – $16.5 million (Shandong Luneng)
When the 31 year-old Italian striker became one of the highest-paid footballers in the world, the soccer community sighed a collective “huh?”. After all, here was a journeyman for much of his career, having played a total of five Champions League games in total and for eight clubs in a 12-year career. He was capped 20 times for the Italian national team, half of those caps coming in the past year. So while it is possible that something on the international stage caught the eye of someone in Shandong, it is hard to see any player with that track record at the age of 31 being offered such a huge amount of money. But none of us would begrudge a footballer from accepting such a payday.
Wayne Rooney- $15.9 million (Manchester United)
When Manchester United offered the midfielder a five and a half year contract making him the highest-paid player in Premier League history at the time, there were more than a few raised eyebrows. After all, at the age of 28, his body was showing the telltale signs of wear and tear since bursting onto the professional stage for Everton in 2002. While at this stage the Red Devils are probably having buyers’ remorse, it is possible that the Chinese might come calling for Mr. Rooney, thus relieving them of a large wage payout as well as picking up a few transfer fee pounds. While at this point in time Mr. Rooney might not fancy ending his career outside the confines of Manchester, the combination of more playing time and some additional pay might just be enough to make the trip worthwhile. Should he flip over to the Chinese Super League, then fully half of the top ten footballer salaries would be plying their trade in China, something unfathomable only a few years ago.
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