Paris SG, leader of Ligue 1 but eliminated in the knockout stages of the Champions League by Real Madrid, is unsurprisingly the most generous club with its players and management in France.
In the ranking of the salary of Ligue 1 players established by L'Equipe, the first 14 places are occupied by elements of PSG, controlled since 2011 by the Qatari sovereign fund Qatar Investment Authority (QIA).
Neymar dominates this ranking with his gross monthly salary of 4,083,000 euros, ahead of Argentine star Lionel Messi, who arrived last summer from FC Barcelona (3,375,000 euros) and Kylian Mbappé (2,220,000 euros), who arrives at the end of the contract.
You have to go down to 15th place to find the first player who does not wear the PSG jersey, Monaco striker Wissam Ben Yedder (650,000 euros).
Still according to figures quoted by L'Equipe, the highest paid player in Europe outside France is Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), who receives 2.6 million euros gross monthly.
The average salary at PSG amounts to 990,000 euros, when for all L1 teams, it amounts to 100,000 euros (67,000 without PSG) according to calculations by L'Equipe.
Behind PSG, the most expensive clubs in terms of salaries are Marseille (average gross salary of 226,000 euros), Monaco (185,000 euros), Nice (130,000 euros) and Lyon (120,000 euros).
The promoted Clermont brings up the rear with 20,000 euros.
According to L'Equipe, the payroll of L1 clubs this season amounts to 1.73 billion euros, against 1.38 billion euros in 2018-19, while the overall income of the L1 fell by 29% since March 2020, due in particular to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Mediapro broadcaster fiasco.
In women's D1, the highest paid players Kadidiatou Diani (PSG) and Wendy Renard (Lyon) earn 37,000 euros per month, without performance bonuses.
Behind the two heavyweights of French women's football (12,000 euros in Lyon, 9,000 euros at PSG), the average salary is much lower (3,200 EUR in Bordeaux, 3rd in this ranking, 1,600 EUR in Soyaux).
© 2022 AFP