Both before and after the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League auctions, it was England’s Ben Stokes who generated a lot of buzz. Before the England all-rounder went under the hammer, there was quite a buzz as to how much he would fetch. And Stokes lived up to the expectations as the Rising Pune Supergiants bought him for a whopping Rs 14.5 crores (£1.7m.)
If we move outside of the cricket ecosystem, and compare the £1.7m with what top football stars of the English Premier League earn, then the all-rounder is just a fraction behind the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney. In fact, he manages to overshadow a majority of the PL stars.
The IPL is an eight-week tournament and even though England players will return home midway during the league, let us assume he plays the entire tournament. If we divide the £1.7m by eight weeks, Stokes’ weekly salary comes to an approximate £218,000 per week.
For a fun read, here are 5 English Premier League footballers who are paid lesser than the amount Ben Stokes was sold at.
#1 Raheem Sterling (£180,000)
The Manchester City winger earns a weekly wage of £180,000 and has six goals and nine assists to his name this season. Sterling received a lot of flak from Liverpool fans after he forced a move away from Merseyside in search of a better wage structure and chances to lay hands on a silverware.
He joined the blue half of Manchester for a reported sum of £44 million from Liverpool in 2015. After a not-so-good last season, the Englishman has burst into life and is enjoying playing under Pep Guardiola. The Jamaica-born 22-year-old still has a long way to go in his career, and will only see his wages increase from here.
#2 Cesc Fabregas (£170,000)
The Chelsea midfielder earns £170,000 a week. Fabregas has made 16 appearances in the Premier League this season, scoring twice, once again his former club Arsenal and has six assists to his name. Fabregas found game-time coming hard initially this season as the pair of N'Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic gave a series of commanding performances at the centre of the park for the Blues.
The Spaniard joined Chelsea in 2014 for a fee believed to be in the region of €33 million from Barcelona. He won the Premier League and the League Cup in his first season with the club.
#3 David Silva (£160,000)
The Manchester city maestro earns a whopping £160,000, but not more than Stokes. In the 2016-17 season of the EPL, the Spaniard has scored 2 goals and gave 4 assists.
Silva joined the Manchester-based club in 2010 and has since won two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and a couple of League Cups with them.
Manchester city currently occupy the second spot in the league and will look towards Silva to help them challenge Chelsea for the title. The Citizens will be facing Monaco in the first leg of the Champions league Tuesday night, and under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola, would want to make it big in Europe this time round.
#4 Kevin de Bruyne (£150,000)
The Belgian maestro earns £150,000 per week, same as Cesc Fabregas. Continuing from exactly where he left last year, De Bruyne has been in excellent form for the Skyblues. He has scored four goals and registered 11 assists so far in the league in 24 matches. Bruyne is currently on top of the top assist providers this season.
Since moving to Manchester from Wolfsburg in 2015 for a reported club-record fee of £55 million, he has set the stage on fire with his impeccable passing skills and his excellent vision. He won the League Cup with the club last season and would hope to add to the list of silverwares in the coming years.
#5 Mesut Özil (£140,000)
The Arsenal playmaker earns a weekly wage of £140,000 from the club and has 5 goals and 5 assists in this season. The German is currently in talks with the club regarding his contract situation. And going by recent reports, the talks haven't been fruitful. Arsenal themselves are undergoing a torrid spell as last week they were thrashed 5-1 by Bayern Munich, two weeks after losing 3-1 to London rivals and current league leaders Chelsea 3-1.
The Gunners are currently sitting on the fourth place, 10 points behind Chelsea and are practically out of the title race. Their Champions league 2016/17 future doesn’t look great as well after the hammering they suffered at the hands of Bayern Munich. Ozil, might, in the near future see his wages rise, but as of now, he earns less than Stokes.
(Stats courtesy: transfermarket)
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