Something for the weekend: Football is notorious for being a sport where athletes can earn a generous salary, and it makes for part of an attractive employee value proposition for football clubs around the globe looking to recruit the newest talent.
More than four in 10 (43%) of the world’s highest-paid footballers play in England’s Premier League, according to research by Axo Finans.
Spain’s La Liga and the Chinese Super League each feature 15% of the world’s highest-paid footballers, while the Bundesliga in Germany has 10% of football’s high earners.
The highest-paid footballer in the Premier League is Paul Pogba, who has a weekly salary of €325,827 (£275,330), and Cristiano Ronaldo ranks as the highest earner in La Liga, with weekly earnings of €410,092 (£346,528).
The top three clubs that have the highest number of players earning over €100,000 (£844,411) are all in the Premier League; Manchester City has 18 players earning over this amount, Chelsea has 11 players, and Manchester United employs 10 players earning over €100,000 a week.
The research also takes an unusual look at some of the traits the highest-paid players have in common; just under two-thirds (63.3%) of the world's highest-earning footballers prefer to keep their hair short, while 17% would rather opt for a bald or shaved look. For those who are curious, the most common star signs among the biggest earners are Aquarius, Cancer and Taurus.
Here at Employee Benefits, the most common trait among the team is a shared love of all things chocolate! Just in case anyone wanted to send us a Christmas present…
