...as pampered male stars get ‘care officers’ to wash their cars and sign for post

PAMPERED Premier League stars are being given full-time ‘player-care officers’ to manage every aspect of their lives – including paying their bills, cleaning their cars and signing for their post.

Top-flight clubs want to ‘ensure that they [players] have minimal distraction from practical issues’ to allow them to perform their best on the pitch.

Liverpool Football Club is looking for a fulltime member of staff to care for its players. The winning applicant will work for the likes of striker Mo Salah, who is paid £400,000 a week after negotiating a new contract.

The job advert said the role involves ‘assisting players in setting up their homes with their desired living arrangements’ and ‘providing a concierge service for all players as and when required’. It will also involve ‘facilitating the signing of merchandise on behalf of the players’.

The role is not limited to elite clubs. An advert for a player liaison officer at Championship side Sheffield United requires applicants to speak multiple languages and to ‘develop a network of contacts who can be on hand 24/7 if needed such as: estate agents, car suppliers, food providers, entertainment’.

A similar role for Southampton FC’s women’s teams has perks such as being allowed to work from home 40 per cent of the time. One former club executive said the key to being a successful player care-manager – generally paid between £30,000 and £50,000 – was being ‘discreet and loyal’ to the players to earn their trust, and also being a watchful eye for the club and ‘not allowing them to take the p***’.

He added: ‘If you’re spending £10million, £20million or even £100million on a player, why would you want them thinking about anything other than football?’

You can even complete a master’s degree in ‘player care in football’ at the Wembley base of the University Campus of Football Business if you cough up £16,450 in course fees.

Kiran Dingri, a player-care officer at Crystal Palace, said: ‘There’s a lot more people you can speak to on a non-football level and a football level. It was a different time within football where it was football or nothing. We’re at a better stage now.’