How much does a Premiership football player earn?
Mar 3rd, 2008 • Premiership • Transactions
Many people are interested in the wages and salaries that various EPL football players earn; especially since the EPL has no salary cap. The answer to the question is complicated, as there are mean salaries, base salaries, starting salaries, bonuses, and transfer fees (which can remain undisclosed).
Average wages in the EPL increased by 9% during the 2005/2006 season with the average player earning €1.1 million. (Annual Review of Football Finance - Deloitte). According to “The Independents” survey it was approximately €676,000 a year.
Wages during the 2003/2004 season:
Frank Lampard (Chelsea) earned $6.4 million in 2004.
Thierry Henry earned $6.3 million for Arsenal in 2004, though now he plays for Barcelona.
John Terry earned $5.9 million (Chelsea) in 2004.
Ruud van Nistelroy earned $5.8 million for Manchester United (2004) now he plays for Real Madrid.
Roy Keane earned $5.4 million for Manchester United (2004), now he Coaches for Sunderland.
-According to France Football Magazine.
Transfer Fees up to August 2006:
[1] Andriy Shevchenko joined Chelsea from AC Milan for €30 million. (The exact amount was never revealed).
[2] Rio Ferdinand joined Manchester United from Leeds United for €29.1 million.
[3] Wayne Rooney joined Manchester United from Everton for €27 million.
[4] Michael Essien joined Chelsea from Lyon for €26 million.
[5] Didier Drogba joined Chelsea from Marseille for €24 million.
[8] Ricardo Carvalho joined Chelsea from Porto for €19.85 million.
[10] Michael Carrick joined Manchester United from Tottenham for €18.6 million.
[Numbers] indicate positions amongst highest transfers.
-According to Forbes Magazine
Over the next couple of months we can expect tensions to rise as Real Madrid tries to snatch Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United. The Guardian has stated that Real is willing to pay around €54 million for the transfer fee with a weekly salary of about €140,000.
In the 2005/2006 season the EPL generated the greatest revenue of all football clubs in the world. Currently at €2 billion, the EPL is expected to exceed €2.5 billion during the 2007/2008 season, an approximate €1 billion above the next highest Italian Serie A. This is extraordinary given their revenues were equal at the turn of the millennium and is probably due to new broadcasting deals (Deloitte reported that Italy could be overtaken by Spain, Germany, or France leagues due to scandals and fan troubles).
For now the EPL is the richest league but mainly due to revenues from broadcast rights and global marketing. In that area they are ahead of everybody else. But the interesting bit is that the EPL generates most of its revenues from within England itself inspite of having a large following in Africa and Asia. But if the Germans can conclude the ongoing deliberations with potential broadcast firms it is expected that the Bundesliga will become the richest league by virtue of playing in a much bigger and richer economy than England. It is well known that for the past five years the Bundesliga has had the highest stadium attendancies in Europe and has a greater advertising market than England. So, when Germany finally takes on the English model of broadcasting, the Bundesliga will become the richest league, no doubt!