Now Barcelona break new ground in average pay... £10million a man
BARCELONA have become the first sports team in history with average basic first-team pay of more than £10million a year.
The Spanish giants, with Lionel Messi as their talisman and best-paid player, are spending £10,454,259 per man in the 2018-19 season, excluding signing-on fees and bonuses, according to a report to be published tomorrow.
The 2018 edition of the Global Sports Salaries Survey puts Barca No1 in average basic pay in a survey that includes 349 teams in eight sports across 18 leagues in 13 countries.
Real Madrid are No2, averaging £8.1m, but only two other football teams (Juventus at No10 and Manchester United at No11) make the top dozen payers, with NBA basketball teams filling the rest of those spots. The best-paying team in sport in 2017 were the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder, down to No3 on £7.85m average followed by the Golden State Warriors (£7.82m) and the Washington Wizards (£7.6m).
That NBA trio break new ground of their own by becoming the first NBA teams — or American teams from any sport — where average basic pay is more than $10m per player per year.
A combination of extended contracts and new signings have lifted Barcelona’s average basic pay from £6.6m a year ago.
A new deal for Messi signed last November pays him more than £50m a year until 2021, with a £619m buyout clause. Gerard Pique, Sergi Roberto, Samuel Umtiti and Sergio Busquets have signed lucrative extensions this year (with £442m buyout clauses) and new additions to the wage bill include Philippe Coutinho.
NBA remains comfortably the best-paid sports league in the world by average pay, with US basketball competition averaging £5.9m per man in 2018-19.
The Premier League remains the highest-paying football league in the world, at £2.99m per player this season or £57,514 per week.
The highest average basic salaries in the Premier are paid, in order, by United, Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal.
The report contains exclusive analysis on pay from football analytics firm 21st Club. Omar Chaudhuri, head of football intelligence at 21st Club, says Premier clubs are paying twice the transfer fees of counterparts in Spain, Italy, Germany and France for the same quality.