SHARE
COPY LINK

FOOTBALL

Revealed: Here’s how much Italy’s top footballers earn

AC Milan's Leonardo Bonucci and former Juventus teammate Gonzalo Higuain are the top Serie A earners but their wages fall short of European stars Neymar and Lionel Messi, the Gazzetta dello Sport reported.

Revealed: Here's how much Italy's top footballers earn
Juventus' Leonardo Bonucci. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP

Italy defender Bonucci, 30, and Argentina striker Higuain, 29, both pocket an estimated 7.5 million euros ($8.9 million) annually, the Italian sports daily said.

Bonucci joined AC Milan from Juventus in July and his salary does not include bonuses which would boost his annual earnings to 10 million euros.

Brazil striker Neymar became the world's top-paid player with a salary of 30 million euros in a record deal with Qatar-owned Ligue 1 club PSG this summer. Barcelona's Lionel Messi is set to earn the same amount once his new deal with the Catalan giants is signed.

Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, once the highest earner, is paid a reported 22 million euros after tax by European champions Real Madrid. Juventus forward Paulo Dybala comes third on the Serie A list on seven million euros, followed by teammate Douglas Costa and Milan goalkeeper

Gianluigi Donnarumma, who now both earn six million euros. Juventus boss Max Allegri is the highest earning Italian coach on seven million euros — nearly double his nearest rival Inter Milan's Luciano Spalletti (4 million).

But Allegri comes just tenth among European coaches behind Manchester City's Pep Guardiola whose whopping 18 million euros pay packet beats Manchester United's Jose Mourino's 16 million.

Gazzetta estimated that the wage bill in the Italian top flight grew from 927 million euros to 955 million euros this season, with champions Juventus (164 million) leading followed by Milan (117 million), AS Roma (91 million), Inter (82 million), Napoli (81 million) and Lazio (62 million).

The bill for players and coaches now tops one billion euros.

READ ALSO: Italian footballer moves clubs, retired, and comes out of retirement – all within two weeks

RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

https://twitter.com/GravesenFumado/status/1764242481984491822

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

SHOW COMMENTS