Kieron Dyer claims he was paid more at Newcastle in 2002 than top Tottenham player is paid now

“It’s a massive problem.”

Tottenham’s wage structure could cause them problems, according to Kieron Dyer. The Premier League has never had more money – the 20 clubs were predicted to make £5.1b between them this season – and Spurs are experiencing their best spell in years. Mauricio Pochettino has turned the team into title contenders, and guided them to the knockout stages of the Champions League. However, despite having more money than ever, and the club’s success in recent seasons, Spurs’ wage structure has remained rigid.

Danny Rose spoke out about it before the season started, saying he and his teammates are “worth more” than they are currently getting at the north London club, and he has a point. Pochettino’s best players could easily double their wages at another club. The average weekly wage for a Premier League player is £50,000, so sympathy for Spurs’ players is likely to be in short supply. However, there’s no denying that some of them are underpaid, and this could spell trouble for hopes of keeping the current side together. As Ken Early wrote in The Irish Times:

“The reason Rose and his team-mates are annoyed is that Spurs’ revenues have increased by 50 per cent, but very little of this increase has been passed on to the players. Tottenham’s top earner is Harry Kane on £100,000 a week. Even if Spurs were to put every member of a 25-man first-team squad on £100,000 a week, the total wage bill would be only £130 million – a measly 43 per cent of a £300 million turnover. The true figure will therefore be even less.”

According to former England midfielder Dyer, he was paid more for Newcastle 15 years ago than one of the top players at Spurs earns now. “I spoke to a Tottenham player towards the end of last season,” Dyer said on BBC Radio 5 Live on Friday evening.

“He’s a full international, regular for his country and regular for his team. He told me what he was on wages wise and I was on more money than him at Newcastle in 2002. This is a player now at Tottenham, who came second in the league, who is a full international in 2017 and he isn’t on what I was on at Newcastle in 2002.”

He said Spurs’ rigid wage structure is a “massive problem” for the club’s hopes of long-term success. You can watch Dyer here:

"I was on more money at Newcastle in 2002"

Kieron Dyer says #Spurs' wage structure is their biggest problem.

📻 https://t.co/NI1sjtpg98 pic.twitter.com/Ihnma8kt9o

— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) December 15, 2017