Top 6 overpaid players in the world

Footballers get paid a lot of money and are therefore able to treat themselves to a lavish lifestyle. Hence they often get a lot of stick for locking themselves away in a bubble far from the fans and the life around the club.

But there is great wage disparity in the world of football. Some players get paid a lot less than they should and some players get paid way more than they should be earning. This essentially comes down to a club's financial strength, the player's abilities and a few other factors.

Let's take a look at 5 players who are overpaid:

(Stats courtesy: totalsportek.com)

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#6 Ousmane Dembele - £220,000/week

Ousmane Dembele has not exactly lit up the world after his ridiculously expensive move to FC Barcelona. He missed the greater part of the season due to a hamstring injury.

Though he has offered sparks of brilliance sporadically, they have not come at a rate that you'd expect from a player who earns £220,000 per week. There is no questioning Dembele's talent but in a team where Andres Iniesta earns £165,000/week, he sticks out like a sore thumb.

He has scored 3 goals from 16 appearances and that's not the kind of return you'd want from the player you broke the bank to sign up.

Maybe Dembele will come to his own in the coming years and will justify the enormous amount of money that he is being paid. But as things stand, the 21-year-old is one of the most overpaid players in the world right now.

#5 Yaya Toure - £220,000/week

Toure now plays a bit part role at Manchester City

Yaya Toure has been one of Manchester City's most important players over the past decade. At his peak, Toure would run past defenders like they weren't there and was as good a box-to-box midfielder as any we have seen.

However, over the past couple of years, Yaya Toure has rather faded out of relevance at City. He was also rumoured to have fallen out with Guardiola. But anyway, paying Yaya Toure almost twice as much as Harry Kane is plain ridiculous.

Toure's contributions at City have dwindled to a trickle and still, he is one of the highest paid footballers at the club.

#4 Alexis Sanchez - £350,000/week

Sanchez joined United from

arch rivals

Arsenal in January

Alexis Sanchez has not covered himself in glory since joining Manchester United from Arsenal in January. He has offered a few moments of brilliance but there is a criticism that he has greatly hampered the rhythm of this Manchester United side.

Sanchez was essentially prised out of Arsenal and United had to pay over the odds to keep Manchester City at bay. As a result, Alexis Sanchez earns £350,000/week at Manchester United and is grossly overpaid as compared to David de Gea, arguably their best player, who is on a £200,000/week deal.

Whether Sanchez will live up to the expectations remains to be seen but justifying his weekly wage figure will be quite a difficult task.

#3 Gareth Bale - £350,000/week

Bale could have gone on to much greater things if he wasn't so injury prone

There really is no denying Gareth Bale's quality. But he really hasn't gone on to become the player that everyone thought he would become when he first joined Real Madrid for a then-record sum of money.

Bale's frequent bouts with injuries have left the fans and the club equally frustrated. As a result, he is rumoured to be on the verge of departing the club with Manchester United and other Premier League clubs lurking to sign him up.

As it stands, Bale is paid almost on par with Cristiano Ronaldo! Ronaldo has scored 25 goals in La Liga and 15 in the Champions League and has stacked up 8 assists as well. As opposed to that, Gareth Bale has 15 goals in La Liga and 1 in the Champions League.

It's true that Bale would have contributed much more if he was free of injuries but the fact that he misses out on several games every season is another reason why he needn't be paid all that much.

#2 Graziano Pelle - £290,000/week

Pelle hasn't been able to deliver the goods on a regular basis for the Chinese outfit

It looked like Graziano Pelle's career, financially, had gone way past its better days. He was plying his trade at Southampton before he made the move to Shadong Luneng in the summer of 2016.

In 10 appearances this season, he has scored only 2 goals although he has laid out 4 assists. His underwhelming performances since making the move has made the club question their decisions in the transfer market.

It has been rumoured that Graziano Pelle is set to be sold by the Chinese Super League outfit who are looking to cash in on the player when they can. It wouldn't make sense for them to keep him on top of their payroll for what the Italian has to offer.

#1 Oscar - £400,000/week

Oscar is making a lot of money in China

There really is no logical explanation to this. There really was no logical explanation when the young Brazilian decided to move to the Chinese Super League from Chelsea. But you can't be blamed for thinking he was motivated by financial reasons.

Oscar is paid a whopping £400,000 per week at Shanghai SIPG. The Chinese have been investing heavily in the sport and have been offering stunning amounts of money to lure some of the top talent in the world.

Of course, Oscar is greatly talented but paying him more money than the Cristiano Ronaldos and Griezmanns of the world is unjustifiable.