Nestor Watach
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24 Aug 2023
Jude Bellingham has arguably been the only genuine marquee signing who’s arrived as a new addition to La Liga this summer – but how do his wages compare to Spanish football’s established stars?
The 20-year-old England international was signed by Real Madrid for an €103million fee, which accounts for a large proportion of La Liga’s entire spend in the transfer market this summer. In fact, Spain’s top flight has been outspent by the Saudi Pro League this summer.
Florentino Perez evidently still has a fondness for the odd galactico signing, but it seems like the days that the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez, Gareth Bale and Neymar would arrive year on year are behind us as a number of their biggest clubs face financial difficulties while the Premier League’s brand has grown further and Saudi Arabia have started to flex their muscles.
Real Madrid pay Bellingham an annual salary of just under €21million a year, which puts him level with Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski in terms of earnings and just behind modern-day Los Blancos legend Luka Modric.
Unsurprisingly, it’s Real Madrid and Barcelona – and to a lesser extent Atletico Madrid – that are responsible for the top-paid players in Spain. In fact, only Athletic Bilbao’s homegrown hero Inaki Williams is the only player from outside La Liga’s ‘big three’ to break the top 25.
Frenkie de Jong boasts a mammoth €37million-a-year salary at Barcelona, making him La Liga’s top-paid player by a serious distance – he earns over €13million (35%) more than any other player.
Barcelona have made some effort to reduce their bloated wage bill in recent years – helped by getting high earners like Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Gerard Pique off the books – but De Jong’s eye-watering salary remains a testament to the reckless approach to spending when he arrived at the club in 2019, signing his last contract extension in 2020.
In total, Xavi’s squad contains eight of La Liga’s top 25 earners, including new signing Ilkay Gundogan, who commands €18million-a-year wages after arriving on a free from Manchester City.
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