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In recent years, the transfer market has been blamed for destroying the beauty of football. The excessive inflow of money to buy footballers has seen a staggering amount of cash being splashed in the market.
That insanity isn't limited only to the transfers as player wages have also become a part of it. A lot of footballers, these days, command salaries that are worth more than the output they provide on the pitch.
Overpaying players is a growing trend, especially in the newly formed competitions like the Chinese Super League, which aims at bringing high-profile players in order to increase its viewership and gain some relevance.
However, It isn't only the Chinese clubs these days. The European superpowers have also started giving in to footballers' irrational wage demands.
As a result, a number of footballers end up getting wages that they actually don't deserve. Without further ado, let's have a look at ten such players who are overpaid in the current era.
#10 James Milner (£120,000-per-week)
James Milner joined Liverpool from Manchester City in 2015, in order to experience regular first-team football. However, three years down the line, history seems set to repeat.
The Englishman had 40 games under his belt last season scoring 7 goals. In this season, however, he has found regular game time hard to come by. Out of the 21 league games that he has played, 11 have come as a substitute. As a result, he has scored only once in 27 appearances and produced 7 assists.
But, in spite of being sidelined to the fringes, the 32-year-old is earning exactly what Mohammed Salah earns at the club.The Egyptian is contending for the Golden Boot this season and has already passed the 20-goal barrier while the Englishman is rapidly advancing towards the twilight of his career.
In addition to that, he is also earning more than regular first-team players like Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Emre Can. His wages should definitely receive a cut, don't you think?
#9 Christian Benteke (£120,000-per-week)
Christian Benteke joined Crystal Palace from Liverpool last season in a club record £32 million deal. He currently pockets £120,000 weekly at the club. However, his returns as the Eagles' most expensive signing is far from what you would expect of him.
Christian Benteke has notched only 19 goals in 60 appearances for the club. Two of those has come this season in 20 games! Coming to his wages, he earns £10,000 more than Harry Kane, who is regarded as one of the best strikers in the world at the moment. Benteke hasn;t even produced half of what the Englishman has on the pitch.
The Belgian certainly has a lot of work to do if he wants to become worthy of the money he earns at the club.
#8 Karim Benzema (£150,000-per-week)
Karim Benzema has become the subject of countless jokes and trolls on social media in the recent years. His irregular performances are a major reason for his poor plight.
Expectations at Real Madrid are always high, especially for the attackers, partly because of the high transfer fees that are paid to bring them to the club. Los Blancos also offer mouth-watering salaries to their players, but they make sure they get adequate returns for the amount of money they pay.
Benzema's output in terms of goals has dwindled since 2016. He scored 19 goals in 48 appearances with Real Madrid in the 2016-17 campaign. However, he has notched only 5 in 21 games this season. In spite of all those poor performances, he bags a salary of £150,000 every week.
Look at Harry Kane, for example. The Spurs hitman has been consistently winning the Golden Boot for the past three seasons in a comparatively tougher league but gets paid £40,000 less than the Frenchman.
If that comparison does make you wonder whether or not Karim Benzema is being overpaid, you won't be totally wrong.
#7 Henrikh Mkhitaryan (£180,000-per-week)
The Mkhitaryan-Sanchez swap was the biggest transfer story in January this year, with the two players going opposite ways with no fee involved.
On his best day, Henrikh Mkhitaryan can be downright menacing and tough to handle, given his exquisite vision and playmaking skills. However, consistency is the main problem with the Armenian.
For a large part of last season, he looked out of form. He managed to grab only 1 goals and 5 assist in the 15 league games he played for United this season. He made a solid start this season but after that, it has been all downhill for the Armenian.
Arsenal seemed to have turned a blind eye towards his inconsistency when they agreed to raise the 29-year-old's pay by £40,000. As per his new contract, he earns more than established playmakers like Cesc Fabregas and Leroy Sane.
For a player who performs intermittently, a pay-rise certainly isn't an option to be considered.
#6 Yaya Toure (£220,000-per-week)
Ivorian midfielder Yaya Toure joined Manchester City in 2010, signalling the beginning of a new era at the Etihad. Since his arrival, the anchorman has played a vital role in establishing Manchester City as one of the biggest clubs in the world.
However, the decline in his quality has been clearly visible as years have passed by. The City coaches have also been concerned with his fitness levels and output in training sessions- a major reason why he is no more a starter for City.
Added to that, the Citizens have top quality midfielders in their ranks, who have successfully kept him out of the starting XI under Pep Guardiola.
In spite of all the negatives, Yaya Toure did succeed in getting his contract extended by a year last summer. According to the new deal, he earns £220,000 weekly at the club. Quite a hefty amount for a benchwarmer, don't you think?
#5 Ousmane Dembele (£220,000-per-week)
Ousmane Dembele completed a £135.5 million move to Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund last summer. Quite a hefty transfer fee for a 19-year-old, isn't it? But that's not all. He earns an astounding £220,000 per week at the club.
Don't get me wrong. The lad has oodles of potential to realise and finishing second in the Golden Boy award is a testament to it. But he hasn't done enough to command the salary he currently earns at the Nou Camp.
The fact that he earns more than the likes of David Silva, Eden Hazard, Harry Kane, and Mohammed Salah is enough to prove that he is earning the amount that a fully established footballer earns — far more than he actually deserves.
For starters, he hasn't won any major trophy in the past to boast about the wages he currently pockets at the club. Added to that, injuries have largely restricted his playing time and he hasn't been able to justify his humongous price tag so far this season.
Coming to his wages, let's consider a player of his age group.
Just remove the first digit from his salary and you get what Marcus Rashford earns at Manchester United at present. Both players were nominated for the Golden Boy award last year and both have been subjected to equal amounts of pressure at their respective clubs.
Also, make no mistake, Rashford won more trophies in his debut season than Dembele has in his entire career.
See that big difference in the wages now? Isn't that enough to prove how overvalued Dembele is?
A salary that big also increases the already astronomical pressure he is shouldering at the moment. Considering his experience, Ousmane Dembele should certainly be paid a lot less than what he currently earns.
#4 Ezequiel Lavezzi (£220,000-per-week)
Argentine striker Ezequiel Lavezzi joined Hebei China from Paris Saint Germain on a two-year deal. He currently pockets £220,000 per week.
However, the results he has churned out in comparison to the astronomic salary he earns are downright unsatisfactory. Due to injury, Ezequiel Lavezzi had to sit out of the game for most of his debut season. He was restricted to just 10 appearances without a single goal under his belt.
Although he made up for the losses by netting 20 times in 27 games in 2017, in no way does that make him worthy of the wages he earns at the club.
Again, Harry Kane can be considered as a benchmark here. The Englishman plays in the world's toughest league and is regarded as one of the best strikers of the current generation. While he earns just £110,000 weekly, is Lavezzi really worth all the money he gets paid?
#3 Graziano Pelle (£290,000-per-week)
Italian forward Graziano Pelle joined Shandong Luneng from Southampton for an estimated fee of £12 million in 2016. He earns £290,000 per week at the Chinese club.
However, when you look at what he has produced on the pitch with respect to his mammoth salary, you are bound to be disappointed. The Italian has mustered only 12 goals in 41 appearances over two seasons, which is a far cry from what the club expects of him.
Pelle is under contract with Shandong Luneng until December 2018, but the Chinese outfit was ready to offload him early with West Ham reportedly lining up a late move for him in January. However, a failure to sell him means the club will definitely ship him off in the summer since they look far from extending his contract.
#2 Gareth Bale (£350,000-per-week)
There's no doubt Gareth Bale has loads of talent to display on a football pitch. He also performs in a satisfactory manner, but the fee he commands isn't exactly the amount he deserves.
The Welshman's career at the Santiago Bernabeu has been constantly marred by injuries for the past two years. Remember, he was the one who was deemed to be the perfect competition for Neymar when they joined the Spanish clubs back in 2013.
While the Brazilian is becoming better and better as years pass by, Bale's battles with injuries have stunted his growth to a considerable level.
He spends most of the time on fringes due to injuries but earns just £15,000 less than Cristiano Ronaldo and a lot more than other influential figures like Marcelo, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos.
Of course, Bale can make a difference in any team he plays. But the lack of consistent presence on a pitch, let alone performing well regularly, is the reason why he seems to be overvalued at present.
#1 Oscar (£400,000-per-week)
Brazilian playmaker Oscar surprised the football world after deciding to move to Shanghai SIPG from Chelsea in 2016. He earns £400,000 per week, as per his current contract with the club.
Aged only 26, it is astonishing how Oscar sacrificed the big tournaments like the UEFA Champions League and the Premier League to play in an undervalued contest that offers almost negligible competition. No wonder his transfer was deemed to be triggered by the money offered to him.
Make no mistake, Oscar has all the qualities you would want to see in an attacking midfielder. But the salary he earns is far more than what he actually deserves. Currently, his wages are even better than Cristiano Ronaldo, who outclasses him by miles in almost every footballing aspect we can think of.
Isn't that fact enough to deem him an overpaid footballer?
Also read: Manchester United: Weekly Wages And Salary Of First-Team Stars Revealed
