There are some hefty wage bills at the La Liga giants.
Spanish football clubs are a smidge more transparent, in comparison to their English counterparts, when it comes to revealing their player’s salaries
Mundo Deportivo has their hands on the latest wage bills from Barcelona and Real Madrid.
It makes for an eye-popping read.
Unsurprisingly, two stars top the (money) pile for their respective clubs. Lionel Messi’s net wage is €21.2m (£15m). That is 25% higher than the annual wedge Cristiano Ronaldo gets from Real Madrid – €17m (£12.2m) for CR7.
The Real figures are from returns filed in March so many of the salaries – for Kaylor Navas and Sergio Ramos, for example – could have been bumped up since then.
Here are the top earners at each club. Read ’em and weep.
BARCELONA
1. Messi: €21.2
=2. Neymar & Suarez: €10m
4. Iniesta: €7.5m
5. Rakitic: €6.5m
6. Busquets & Alves: €6m
8. Piqué: €5.8m
9. Mascherano: €5.5m
=10. Alba & Arda Turan: €4m
=12. Bravo & Vermaelen: €3.5m
=14. Ter Stegen & Mathieu: €3m
=16. Adriano & Aleix Vidal: €2.5m
=18. Bartra & Bartra: €2m
20. Sergi Roberto & Douglas: €1.5m
= 22. Masip, Munir & Sandro: €1m
REAL MADRID
1. Cristiano Ronaldo: €17m
2. Bale: €11m
3. Ramos: €10m (since increased after Ramos’ contract extension in September)
4. Benzema: €8m
=5. James RodrÃguez & Kroos: €6m
7. Modric: €4.5m
8. Marcelo: €4m
9. Pepe: €3.8m
10. Arbeloa: €2.8m
11. Varane: €2.4m
=12. Keylor Navas & Isco: €2m
=14. Jesé, Carvajal & Nacho: €1.2m