Picture from: freelargeimages.com
Review of the day
List of highest paid football players
France Football has released a list of the world’s highest-paid footballers in 2018, and as expected, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo top the list, with Neymar in third. Even more surprising is that Andres Iniesta is also among them, while there is only one player from the Chinese Super League, Ezequiel Lavezzi. The revenue is said to be the sum of their playing contracts, prize money and sponsors, and while I’m not sure how accurate this estimate is, it’s clear why Barcelona are struggling financially. Unsurprisingly, they have breached their own charter (despite repeatedly amending it to increase the proportion of income allowed to be spent on wages), with three in the club’s top ten.
1. Lionel Messi – Barcelona – €130 million
2. Cristiano Ronaldo – Juventus – €113 million
3. Neymar – Paris Saint-Germain – €91.5 million
4. Antoine Griezmann – Atletico Madrid – €44 million
5. Gareth Bale – Real Madrid – €40.2 million
6. Andres Iniesta – Vissel Kobe – €33 million
7. Alexis Sanchez – Manchester United – €30.7 million
8. Philippe Coutinho – Barcelona – €30 million
9. Ezequiel Lavezzi – Hebei China Fortune – €28.3 million
10. Luis Suarez – Barcelona – €28 million
List of highest paid managers
France Football has also published its list of the highest paid managers of 2018 and surprisingly, underdog Thierry Henry is in third place, which explains why he has repeatedly failed to find work despite pricing his services so high. Considering how poorly he performed during his time at Monaco, it’s doubtful he’ll command such a huge salary again. Especially when you consider that his first job was paid more than Guardiola’s salary at Manchester City. Surprisingly, Diego Simeone would be in the top five in terms of earnings if he were still playing football!
1. Diego Simeone – Atletico Madrid – €41 million
2. Jose Mourinho – Manchester United – €31 million
3. Thierry Henry – Monaco – €25.5 million
4. Guardiola – Manchester City – €24 million
5. Ernesto Valverde – Barcelona – €23 million
6. Wenger – Arsenal – €20.5 million
7. Fabio Cannavaro – Guangzhou Evergrande – €15 million
8. Massimiliano Allegri – Juventus – €13.5 million
9= Marcelo Lippi – China – €13 million
9=Jurgen Klopp – Liverpool – €13 million
9= Leonardo Jardim – Monaco – €13 million
12. Carlo Ancelotti – Napoli – €12 million
13. Antonio Conte – Chelsea – €11.3 million
14. Mauricio Pochettino – Tottenham Hotspur – €10 million
15. Luciano Spalletti – Inter Milan – €8.3 million
16= Vito Pereira – Shanghai SIPG – €7.5 million
16= Niko Kovac – Bayern Munich – €7.5 million
16= Zidane – Real Madrid – €7.5
19=Unai Emery – Arsenal – €7 million
19=Dragan Stojkovic – Guangzhou R&F – €7 million
Barcelona confirm they have outbid Pogba
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has revealed Barca were beaten to the signing of Paul Pogba by Manchester United back in 2016 because he claimed they could not afford the then-record transfer fee of more than £80 million. Bartomeu told ESPN: “In the summer of 2015, when Paul Pogba was playing in Turin, we just told Juventus that if one day they decided to sell the player, we would be interested. When they sold the player, they told us what the offer was and we couldn’t afford that much money at the time. Another sign of financial problems brewing at the Catalan club.
Lejeune is out for the season
Newcastle United have confirmed that Florian Lejeune will not take part in the run-in for the season after suffering a “serious knee injury”. The club are refusing to reveal further details at this stage about the centre-back, who missed much of the start of the season with a knee injury.
Bolton Wanderers receive early EFL payment
In order to ensure Bolton’s weekend home game against Ipswich goes ahead smoothly, the EFL advanced the mid-April payment of £160,000 to the club, while current owner Ken Anderson continued the old saying of “rob Peter and pay Paul”. The cash allowed the financially troubled and grossly mismanaged club to pay for matchday staff and emergency services.
Kieftenbeld faces elimination in 6 months
Birmingham City midfielder Michael Kieftenbaird will be out for at least six months with an anterior cruciate ligament injury. The 28-year-old suffered the injury in a tackle against Leeds United on Saturday. Kieftenbaird received a one-year contract extension due to injury. His previous contract was set to expire in 2020, and he now has one year to regain health and form.
Man arrested for racist abuse
A Sheffield man who sent abusive messages to Wigan Athletic footballer Nathan Byrne has handed himself in to police. The 20-year-old man, believed to be a student at Liverpool Hope University, was questioned on suspicion of committing a racially aggravated public order offense and malicious communications. He has not been charged and has been released pending further investigation.
Watt leaves Saints
Former Celtic striker Tony Watt, who is still living off the goals he scored against Barcelona for the Glasgow giants, is set to leave St Johnstone this summer. The 25-year-old has turned down a new deal after falling out of favor at the start of the year. Last summer, he joined St Johnstone for free and scored 6 goals in the first 8 games, but only scored 2 more goals since then and lost his place in the team.
3 people charged after Edinburgh derby
A 38-year-old man was arrested for using racist language, two teenagers were also arrested, a 19-year-old was arrested for throwing a flare and a 16-year-old was arrested for throwing a coin, all incidents taking place during Hibernian’s 2-1 win over Heart of Midlothian on Saturday. Police are also investigating allegations of racial abuse against Hibs midfielder Marvin Bartley, with footage posted on social media appearing to show the midfielder being abused during warm-ups.
Nigeria to pay for Chukwu’s treatment
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has stepped in to pay for the medical treatment of former national team captain and head coach Christian Chukwu. Chukwu led Nigeria to its first African Cup of Nations title in 1980 and was in charge of the national team from 2002 to 2005. He has been trying to raise $50,000 to pay for his trip to the United States for treatment. An NFF spokesperson told the BBC: “NFF Chairman [Amaju Pinnick] Senior officials have been directed to visit him and ensure prompt action to help meet his medical expenses. The federation hopes he can overcome his current health challenges and return to fitness soon. “
Bentaleb returns to first-team squad
Former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Nabil Bentaleb has been restored to the first-team squad after being demoted to the Schalke 04 Under-23s for disciplinary reasons. The Algerian has been with the Under-23s for three weeks but caretaker coach Hub Stevens told the club website: “The feedback has been positive, both in terms of his performance in training and how he has performed with the Under-23s. So we have decided to bring him back into the squad.” Morocco defender Hamza Mendel will remain with the Under-23s after being demoted to the Under-23s on Friday for disciplinary reasons.
Deeney faces racial abuse on social media
Watford captain Troy Deeney has decided to ban comments from his Instagram page after he and his family were subjected to racist abuse. Hornets teammates Adrian Mariappa and Christian Cabasser also complained of receiving racist messages. Deeney said: “Due to the events of the past 24 hours, I will be removing comments from my posts. To me, this is not a game. When you racially abuse my family or myself, I must take steps to prevent young people from seeing these comments and thinking this is acceptable and having to expose people I care about to these small-minded people.”
Higuain wants to stay at Chelsea
Gonzalo Higuain wants to stay at Chelsea as Juventus are desperate to get rid of him. Stamford Bridge have the option to buy him or extend his loan deal for another year, as agreed in the current loan deal with Juventus. Higuain told Chelsea’s website: “I want to do my best so that I can spend next season here. I came here and I want to stay. It’s a good city where you live well and you can relax but also enjoy yourself – so my intention is to stay here.
Bayern fans launch green protest
No Bayern Munich fans are protesting not for the environment, but against the club’s mint green away shirt, which has been an ongoing theme in their banner displays this season. The protests are becoming increasingly creative, with the first showing a picture of Stefan Effenberg in his prime, wearing the club’s famous red jersey with the words “Go away, you Reds – to your place in the sun”. It was then replaced by a banner showing an older Effenberg, cocktail in hand, wearing a visor, and this season’s away jersey that read: “Like you wear on vacation, not on the pitch.” Fans also changed the Qatar Airways armband on the jersey to read “KAFALA Airways”. Fans also protested against the club’s use of blue shorts, forcing Bayern to commit to sticking to red and white for their home shirts in the future.
Written by Tris Burke April 9, 2019 06:18:15