Manchester United have recently returned to the top of the pile for most expensive wage structure in the Premier League following their recent spending and new contract deals. A reported full breakdown of the wages offered to every player at Old Trafford made its way onto Twitter so we’re here to bring you the top earners at Manchester United.
DAVID DE GEA - £75K
The Manchester United shot stopper is reportedly earning a tidy sum of £75,000-a-week at Old Trafford – although that is a lot less than we all expected. He is effectively indispensable to the Red Devils right now with the state of their defence and with Real Madrid snooping around for his signature it’s no wonder that United are looking to give him a better deal.
MAROUANE FELLAINI - £80K
I know there’s not much hope for the world when Marouane Fellaini is earning more money than David De Gea! But Manchester United fans will unfortunately have to come to terms with the fact that the Belgian midfielder will be receiving at least that amount of money every week until 2018! His wages are likely so high because of how desperate David Moyes was to sign him and the shambolic and last minute nature of the deal which saw it completed too late to shave £4 million off the asking price.
MICHAEL CARRICK - £80K
Level with Fellaini is Michael Carrick – someone we can believe is on such a nice wage packet. The former Spurs and West Ham midfielder has been at Old Trafford for nine years now and has been one of the stable features of the team in that time. He’s one of the few players helping Manchester United through a tough time of transition with some good performances – some not even in his natural position. This current deal runs out in the summer but you’d imagine it will be extended for a year or so before its expiry date.
ANDER HERRERA - £80K
New signing Ander Herrera also brings in £80,000-a-week as he was one of Louis Van Gaal’s marquee signings of the summer. He was brought in early on and was clearly part of the Dutchman’s plans to bolster the Red Devil’s midfield. Chances are it was a significant raise on what he was receiving at Athletic Bilbao.
ASHLEY YOUNG - £118K
Now if you thought Fellaini earning more than David de Gea was outrageous then take a look at what Ashley Young brings in every week! There’s a huge gap between what he earns and the rest of the squad which strangely puts him right up there with the biggest earners at Old Trafford! We’re not even sure why he’s on so much money given that he was only purchased from Aston Villa – hardly an elite team with huge wage bills! This current deal runs out in 2016 and goodness knows how much he’ll be offered to extend his contract then!
JUAN MATA - £130K
The next highest earner makes a little more sense. Convincing Chelsea to let Juan Mata go cost the Red Devils £37 million and given that he’s now earning £130,000-a-week it looks like it cost a lot to personally convince the Spaniard to leave. Asking big players to trade their club for a divisional rival never comes cheap – especially someone of Mata’s quality so another three years of this contract makes a lot of sense.
ANGEL DI MARIA - £150K
Angel di Maria is a surprising entry at fourth – we thought he’d be on a lot more money than this! The Argentinean’s £60 million move from Real Madrid broke the British transfer record and with him arriving in England from one of the biggest clubs in the world you’d have thought it would cost a little more to convince the 26-year-old to make the move. Well, United fans probably aren’t complaining all that much because having one of the world’s superstars on your wage bill for this sort of price is almost something of a bargain.
ROBIN VAN PERSIE - £250K
Absolutely miles ahead in third place is striker Robin van Persie. The Dutchman was starting to lay the foundations to become something of a legend at Arsenal and convincing him to trade all of that in for a new club would not have come cheap! You’d have thought that an increased likelihood of trophies would have been enough but obviously he wanted more than silverware in his pocket! His current deal has 18 months left on it and may end up increasing should the club want him to stay on past 2016.
RADAMEL FALCAO - £280KFalcao’s earnings are perhaps the biggest gripe a Manchester United fan might have with their wage bill. Great expense was thrown at both Monaco and Falcao to bring him on loan to Old Trafford but he has not had the impact of a player being paid £280,000-a-week. Admittedly he’s struggled with injury in the last 12-18 months but that is precisely why the decision to loan him at great cost is a bit of a strange one!
WAYNE ROONEY – £300K
It is common knowledge now really that Wayne Rooney earns a ridiculous amount of money at Manchester United. His most recent deal was signed in February 2014 as the now club captain wanted to ensure he was the top earner at Old Trafford. The Red Devils will be paying Rooney at least £300,000-a-week until 2019 – and who knows, he might ask for another raise before then and end up on £350,000-a-week
