Sport
Too well paid to move | 5 players stuck because of their wages
With the transfer window open for business, there should be some high-profile moves in the coming weeks unless the financial impact of the Coronavirus crisis leads to less business than usual. That could leave a series of star players who are out of favour or unhappy at their clubs being left in limbo and they are too well paid to move. A massive pay packet will surely help to console them but these five players are unlikely to be getting any real job satisfaction any time soon.
5 players who are too well paid to move
Gareth Bale
The return of Zinedine Zidane to the Real Madrid dugout late last year was always likely to be bad news for Gareth Bale. They repeatedly clashed during Zidane’s first spell in charge, though Bale still had a big impact on the club winning three straight Champions League titles.
Since Zidane came back to the Santiago Bernabeu, however, Bale has barely played. The 31-year-old Welshman entertained himself during the post-lockdown period by pulling a series of pranks from the bench and appears quite happy to see out his Madrid contract, which still has a year left to run.
Bale became the best-paid player in the world when he signed his six-year deal in 2016, with the contract paying around £400,000 a week. There is little incentive for Bale to move on for what would have to be a large pay cut, but if he stays he is unlikely to be fully fit for the European Championship with Wales next year, which might be a factor in his decision over what to do.
Mesut Ozil
After lockdown, Mesut Ozil saw even less action on the pitch than Bale. Indeed, while his Arsenal team-mates were celebrating beating Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Wembley, Ozil was not even in the country having been given the green light to go to Turkey instead.
Ozil is the best-paid player in Arsenal history but he appears to have no future at the club under Mikel Arteta. The former Germany international is reportedly paid almost as much as Bale, some £350,000 a week, and his deal is also set to expire in 2022.
At 31, Ozil surely still has something to offer, but it does not seem likely to be at Arsenal and few clubs will be able to pay his salary demands meaning that he is too well paid to move. Ozil is also said to enjoy living in London and is in no rush to leave Arsenal, so he and Bale could easily spend the next year on the bench.
Philippe Coutinho
Liverpool sold Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona and used the funds to buy Alisson and Virgil van Dijk, building the foundation they needed to win a first title of the Premier League era. It is surely up there with the best business a club has ever done. Just a couple of years after joining Barcelona, Coutinho is already a spare part at the Spanish giants, having been sent on loan to Bayern Munich to get part of his salary off the club’s wage bill.
Money is tight at Barca so they will be desperate to move on Coutinho, who is paid around £240,000 a week. His deal at Camp Nou expires in 2023 and while clubs including Arsenal have been linked with the 28-year-old, negotiations for a transfer are expected to be tricky.
Neymar
Neymar has been linked with leaving Paris Saint-Germain pretty much since the day he joined them. A return to Barcelona has long been mooted but financial issues due to COVID-19 make such a move impossible according to the club’s unpopular president Josep Maria Bartomeu.
At least Neymar will still play regularly for PSG, but most football fans would rather see him in a more competitive league than the French top tier, where his side are totally dominant.
Neymar has even been overshadowed in Paris by the emergence of Kylian Mbappe, who looks set to rival him for individual honours like the Ballon d’Or that the Brazilian craves so badly.
James Rodriguez
Back to Real Madrid now, where James Rodriguez is another misfit who Zidane will be hoping can be moved on to free up room in his transfer and wage budget.
Like Coutinho, the Colombia playmaker has spent time on loan at Bayern Munich, but he also failed to impress the Bundesliga giants enough to pull the trigger on a permanent deal.
Despite seemingly being skint, Arsenal have also been linked with James – who started only five La Liga games last season – and his wages of £280,000 per week will also make a deal tricky. Rodriguez is another who is currently too well paid to move and it is a shame to see a career with so much promise fall by the wayside because of money.
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