United Wage Structure - the actual cultural reset

[Rojofiam]

This issue is now getting overblown. I'd even argue the wage bill is fine by now compared to 2-3 years ago.

Our weekly payroll is around 3.3m/week currently.

In the last 24 months, we've already cleared over 2 million/week in wages by the departures of De Gea, Ronaldo, Varane, Pogba, Cavani, Martial, Mata, Greenwood, and van de Beek. It's actually probably much closer to 2.5m than 2m.

That's close to 75% of the whole current payroll.

A lot of players from the current squad are also likely to leave within the next 24 months: Casemiro, Antony, Sancho, Maguire, Eriksen, AWB, Lindelöf, McTominay, Bayindir, etc. That's another more than 1 million shaved off the wage bill.

I'd argue that it's actually time to fill the wage bill again with a lot of new players. Mainoo and Garnacho will need improved terms as well, if they keep performing the way they have been. Probably other young players will get improved terms as well, if we start improving as a team. Fernandes might get a pay rise. De Ligt could take around 170k-200k/week.

My point is that it was a big issue 2-3 years ago, however now, I think our wage bill is actually pretty small for a club of United's size. It has become easy to fix it, if there is even an issue with it.

Guys like Mount earning big money is not an issue, if he plays and performs. PL players will get better contracts than guys coming from Portugal or Holland, especially someone coming from another big club, with big trophies and individual awards to their name. Comparing AWB and Dalot is also a good example of this. Or Martínez, who just joined 2 years ago from the Eredivisie, compared to Lindelöf who has been playing for one of the richest clubs of the richest league in the world for over 7 years now, and is not on his first contract at the club.

 

[Bastian]

Mainoo needs to take a printout of the OP into his negotiations.

If he doesn't turn that 20 into 200 then his agent is a clown.

I think it would be healthy to give both Garnacho and Mainoo parity with Yoro (115K) with increases over the length of contract.

I believe the 56k figure for Zirkzee was from an Italian report, meaning net pay, which would correspond to around 100k.

Fixed.

 

[Rojofiam]

I think it would be healthy to give both Garnacho and Mainoo parity with Yoro (115K) with increases over the length of contract.

I would agree, but Garnacho's next contract will likely be 150k/week at least. He extended 15 months ago for 50k/week. Mainoo could potentially get close to Yoro's wages, though. If Amad breaks into the team this season, we'll need to give him a new contract as well, probably also around the 120k mark if I had to guess. He's on 28k currently.

 

[justsomebloke]

Mainoo needs to take a printout of the OP into his negotiations.

If he doesn't turn that 20 into 200 then his agent is a clown.

That would be a big overpayment at this stage. For comparables, Chukwuemeka makes 100, Szoboszlai and McGinn 120, Caicedo, Tielemans and Macallister 150, Maddison 170, Fernandez 180. Harvey Elliott, Bissouma, Sarr and Bentancur all make well below 100. And age and experience does matter here. Somewhere north of 100 but south of 150 seems reasonable to me.

 

[IrishRedDevil]

That would be a big overpayment at this stage. For comparables, Chukwuemeka makes 100, Szoboszlai and McGinn 120, Caicedo, Tielemans and Macallister 150, Maddison 170, Fernandez 180. Harvey Elliott, Bissouma, Sarr and Bentancur all make well below 100. And age and experience does matter here. Somewhere north of 100 but south of 150 seems reasonable to me.

Around £110k, same as Yoro, is fair.

 

[pratyush_utd]

Mount Casemiro and Rashford should also be on market considering their salary. Nobody in our squad deserves 250k+ salary at the moment.

 

[Lemoor]

That would be a big overpayment at this stage. For comparables, Chukwuemeka makes 100, Szoboszlai and McGinn 120, Caicedo, Tielemans and Macallister 150, Maddison 170, Fernandez 180. Harvey Elliott, Bissouma, Sarr and Bentancur all make well below 100. And age and experience does matter here. Somewhere north of 100 but south of 150 seems reasonable to me.

I would take cross-club comparisons with a cystern of salt. Liverpool for example for 2023 in capology are somewhere between 165-199 million euro and in UEFA financial reports they are at 429 million. Obviously UEFA one counts more than just first team players, but the disparity is insane and every club is at least significantly undercounted there and not even in a reliable way.

 

[justsomebloke]

I would take cross-club comparisons with a cystern of salt. Liverpool for example for 2023 in capology are somewhere between 165-199 million euro and in UEFA financial reports they are at 429 million. Obviously UEFA one counts more than just first team players, but the disparity is insane and every club is at least significantly undercounted there and not even in a reliable way.

Fair enough, but I still wouldn't change that conclusion.

 

[Bastian]

I would agree, but Garnacho's next contract will likely be 150k/week at least. He extended 15 months ago for 50k/week. Mainoo could potentially get close to Yoro's wages, though. If Amad breaks into the team this season, we'll need to give him a new contract as well, probably also around the 120k mark if I had to guess. He's on 28k currently.

Yeah, maybe Garnacho will get more. I'd still tried to keep them all level. Amad needs at least a whole season of good performances before he can break 100K. His next contract should be below 80K for sure.

 

[Lemoor]

Fair enough, but I still wouldn't change that conclusion.

Sure. My point isn't really about how much he should earn, just that being pedantic about reported wages being in the 100-150k weekly range is a bit problematic, when a player earning with all bonuses between 80-200k might come down purely to how much the club and agent want to do a PR spin.

 

[OverratedOpinion]

Isn't our wage to revenue ratio extremely healthy?

 

[RuudTom83]

So little is know about player contracts and bonuses. Makes any discussion about the topic redundant as we don’t know the facts.

 

[El Zoido]

It really is incredible how much footballers get paid. It’s been normalised for so long we’re just used to it, but even a backup player that’ll barely get a kick all season earns more in a week than the average person gets paid in a year. We’re paying Casemiro almost 20m per year, it’s insane.

 

[Lemoor]

Isn't our wage to revenue ratio extremely healthy?

They should be now. We were approaching a problematic level a few years ago, but in 2023 it was back down to 51%.

 

[Dan_F]

Yeah, maybe Garnacho will get more. I'd still tried to keep them all level. Amad needs at least a whole season of good performances before he can break 100K. His next contract should be below 80K for sure.

He’s tied down for another four years. We should be looking to see how he gets on this season before any talks of new contracts take place. He’s no where near consistent enough for £150k yet.

 

[justsomebloke]

Sure. My point isn't really about how much he should earn, just that being pedantic about reported wages being in the 100-150k weekly range is a bit problematic, when a player earning with all bonuses between 80-200k might come down purely to how much the club and agent want to do a PR spin.

Granted. Wish we had something better.

 

[Rojofiam]

He’s tied down for another four years. We should be looking to see how he gets on this season before any talks of new contracts take place. He’s no where near consistent enough for £150k yet.

No one said he was.

 

[BorisManUtd]

It really is incredible how much footballers get paid. It’s been normalised for so long we’re just used to it, but even a backup player that’ll barely get a kick all season earns more in a week than the average person gets paid in a year. We’re paying Casemiro almost 20m per year, it’s insane.

Yeah true. Imagine being someone like Tom Heaton, 3rd GK who barely ever plays and is earning 45k pounds a week. 2,3 million a year.

 

[PSV]

I don't think we've actually changed much, if anything. Still handing out massive bumpers.

Joined	Player	Old Club	Old	New	Increase
2019	AWB	C.Palace	15	90	500,00 %
2020	Maguire	Leicester	90	190	111,11 %
2020	Amad	Atalanta	4,5	28,8	540,00 %
2021	Sancho	Dortmund	51,7	250	383,56 %
2021	Heaton	Villa	40	45	12,50 %
2022	Casemiro	Real Madrid	176,8	350	97,96 %
2022	Antony	Ajax	24,5	200	716,33 %
2022	Martinez	Ajax	19,4	120	518,56 %
2022	Malacia	Feyenoord	6,3	75	1090,48 %
2022	Eriksen	Inter*	155,5	150	-3,54 %
2023	Mount	Chelsea	80	250	212,50 %
2023	Onana	Inter	62,2	120	92,93 %
2023	Højlund	Atalanta	10,3	85	725,24 %
2023	Evans	Leicester	100	65	-35,00 %
2023	Bayindir	Fenerbahce	32,3	35	8,36 %
2024	Yoro	Lille	5,8	115	1882,76 %
2024	Zirkzee	Bologna	18,5	105	467,57 %
Joined	Player	Old Club	Old	First C	Increase	Now
2014	Shaw	Southampton	25	110	340,00 %	150
2017	Lindelof	Benfica	6	75	1150,00 %	120
2018	Dalot	Porto	2,6	25	861,54 %	85
2019	Bruno	Sporting	46,4	180	287,93 %	240

source: capology (not proofread)

You wouldn't expect Yoro/Zirkzee to be more than £50-60k if we'd actually changed.

 

[Pronewbie]

I don't think we've actually changed much, if anything. Still handing out massive bumpers.

Joined	Player	Old Club	Old	New	Increase
2019	AWB	C.Palace	15	90	500,00 %
2020	Maguire	Leicester	90	190	111,11 %
2020	Amad	Atalanta	4,5	28,8	540,00 %
2021	Sancho	Dortmund	51,7	250	383,56 %
2021	Heaton	Villa	40	45	12,50 %
2022	Casemiro	Real Madrid	176,8	350	97,96 %
2022	Antony	Ajax	24,5	200	716,33 %
2022	Martinez	Ajax	19,4	120	518,56 %
2022	Malacia	Feyenoord	6,3	75	1090,48 %
2022	Eriksen	Inter*	155,5	150	-3,54 %
2023	Mount	Chelsea	80	250	212,50 %
2023	Onana	Inter	62,2	120	92,93 %
2023	Højlund	Atalanta	10,3	85	725,24 %
2023	Evans	Leicester	100	65	-35,00 %
2023	Bayindir	Fenerbahce	32,3	35	8,36 %
2024	Yoro	Lille	5,8	115	1882,76 %
2024	Zirkzee	Bologna	18,5	105	467,57 %
Joined	Player	Old Club	Old	First C	Increase	Now
2014	Shaw	Southampton	25	110	340,00 %	150
2017	Lindelof	Benfica	6	75	1150,00 %	120
2018	Dalot	Porto	2,6	25	861,54 %	85
2019	Bruno	Sporting	46,4	180	287,93 %	240

source: capology (not proofread)

You wouldn't expect Yoro/Zirkzee to be more than £50-60k if we'd actually changed.

Disappointing if true.

 

[IrishRedDevil]

I don't think we've actually changed much, if anything. Still handing out massive bumpers.

Joined	Player	Old Club	Old	New	Increase
2019	AWB	C.Palace	15	90	500,00 %
2020	Maguire	Leicester	90	190	111,11 %
2020	Amad	Atalanta	4,5	28,8	540,00 %
2021	Sancho	Dortmund	51,7	250	383,56 %
2021	Heaton	Villa	40	45	12,50 %
2022	Casemiro	Real Madrid	176,8	350	97,96 %
2022	Antony	Ajax	24,5	200	716,33 %
2022	Martinez	Ajax	19,4	120	518,56 %
2022	Malacia	Feyenoord	6,3	75	1090,48 %
2022	Eriksen	Inter*	155,5	150	-3,54 %
2023	Mount	Chelsea	80	250	212,50 %
2023	Onana	Inter	62,2	120	92,93 %
2023	Højlund	Atalanta	10,3	85	725,24 %
2023	Evans	Leicester	100	65	-35,00 %
2023	Bayindir	Fenerbahce	32,3	35	8,36 %
2024	Yoro	Lille	5,8	115	1882,76 %
2024	Zirkzee	Bologna	18,5	105	467,57 %
Joined	Player	Old Club	Old	First C	Increase	Now
2014	Shaw	Southampton	25	110	340,00 %	150
2017	Lindelof	Benfica	6	75	1150,00 %	120
2018	Dalot	Porto	2,6	25	861,54 %	85
2019	Bruno	Sporting	46,4	180	287,93 %	240

source: capology (not proofread)

You wouldn't expect Yoro/Zirkzee to be more than £50-60k if we'd actually changed.

Lindelof won something!

 

[roonster09]

I don't think we've actually changed much, if anything. Still handing out massive bumpers.

Joined	Player	Old Club	Old	New	Increase
2019	AWB	C.Palace	15	90	500,00 %
2020	Maguire	Leicester	90	190	111,11 %
2020	Amad	Atalanta	4,5	28,8	540,00 %
2021	Sancho	Dortmund	51,7	250	383,56 %
2021	Heaton	Villa	40	45	12,50 %
2022	Casemiro	Real Madrid	176,8	350	97,96 %
2022	Antony	Ajax	24,5	200	716,33 %
2022	Martinez	Ajax	19,4	120	518,56 %
2022	Malacia	Feyenoord	6,3	75	1090,48 %
2022	Eriksen	Inter*	155,5	150	-3,54 %
2023	Mount	Chelsea	80	250	212,50 %
2023	Onana	Inter	62,2	120	92,93 %
2023	Højlund	Atalanta	10,3	85	725,24 %
2023	Evans	Leicester	100	65	-35,00 %
2023	Bayindir	Fenerbahce	32,3	35	8,36 %
2024	Yoro	Lille	5,8	115	1882,76 %
2024	Zirkzee	Bologna	18,5	105	467,57 %
Joined	Player	Old Club	Old	First C	Increase	Now
2014	Shaw	Southampton	25	110	340,00 %	150
2017	Lindelof	Benfica	6	75	1150,00 %	120
2018	Dalot	Porto	2,6	25	861,54 %	85
2019	Bruno	Sporting	46,4	180	287,93 %	240

source: capology (not proofread)

You wouldn't expect Yoro/Zirkzee to be more than £50-60k if we'd actually changed.

Big clubs pay big wages. That's why their wage bill is high.

 

[Remember the geese]

You wouldn't expect Yoro/Zirkzee to be more than £50-60k if we'd actually changed.

Don't agree with that. I think both are earning realistic wages.

 

[Lemoor]

I don't think we've actually changed much, if anything. Still handing out massive bumpers.

Obviously we do? Non-bumpers happen if either the player is expected to quickly decline physically or if he was on a big contract elswhere and was a disappointment. We very rarely target those players for obvious reasons. You would get same thing at other clubs.

 

[AngeloHenriquez]

I don't think we've actually changed much, if anything. Still handing out massive bumpers.

Joined	Player	Old Club	Old	New	Increase
2019	AWB	C.Palace	15	90	500,00 %
2020	Maguire	Leicester	90	190	111,11 %
2020	Amad	Atalanta	4,5	28,8	540,00 %
2021	Sancho	Dortmund	51,7	250	383,56 %
2021	Heaton	Villa	40	45	12,50 %
2022	Casemiro	Real Madrid	176,8	350	97,96 %
2022	Antony	Ajax	24,5	200	716,33 %
2022	Martinez	Ajax	19,4	120	518,56 %
2022	Malacia	Feyenoord	6,3	75	1090,48 %
2022	Eriksen	Inter*	155,5	150	-3,54 %
2023	Mount	Chelsea	80	250	212,50 %
2023	Onana	Inter	62,2	120	92,93 %
2023	Højlund	Atalanta	10,3	85	725,24 %
2023	Evans	Leicester	100	65	-35,00 %
2023	Bayindir	Fenerbahce	32,3	35	8,36 %
2024	Yoro	Lille	5,8	115	1882,76 %
2024	Zirkzee	Bologna	18,5	105	467,57 %
Joined	Player	Old Club	Old	First C	Increase	Now
2014	Shaw	Southampton	25	110	340,00 %	150
2017	Lindelof	Benfica	6	75	1150,00 %	120
2018	Dalot	Porto	2,6	25	861,54 %	85
2019	Bruno	Sporting	46,4	180	287,93 %	240

source: capology (not proofread)

You wouldn't expect Yoro/Zirkzee to be more than £50-60k if we'd actually changed.

Zirkzee is on £56k it's widely reported? Only Capology and a few others claim the 105 figure? Also, the 115 to Yoro isn't as bad as you would think as I don't doubt a club like RM wouldn't match that

 

[OmarUnited4ever]

Current wages:

Mount 250K
Sancho 300K
Maguire 190K
McTominay 80K (also reported as low as 65K)
Eriksen 150K
AWB 90K
Dalot 85K
Onana 120K
Shaw 150K
Lindelof 120K
Malacia 75K
Casemiro 350K
Rashford 300K
Amad 30K
Pellistri 20K
Mainoo 20K (about to sign a new deal)
Garnacho 50K
Hojlund 85K
Zirkzee 105K
Yoro 115K
Hannibal 15K
Martinez 120K
Bruno 240K
Antony 150K/200K?
Evans 65K
Bayindir 35K
Heaton 45K

This summer we have shed the wages of Donny (120K), Martial (250K), Varane (340K), Willams (60K) and Greenwood (80K).

The wages are about as mismatch as the squad building has been. AWB earning more than Dalot, Mount coming in and getting the #7 being paid more than Bruno, Martinez earning the same as Lindelof while Maguire is on 190K, and then of course Sancho, Casemiro and Rashford on far too high wages.

In terms of dressing room harmony and getting rid of cultural entitlement, it would be great to move on Casemiro who in no way justifies his wage, Eriksen who does not represent any sort of value at 150K a week, Sancho quite clearly, Lindlof and Maguire, Antony, and Rashford. That's half a team, so this of course takes time. But the sooner the better. It's a weird situation to have, being perhaps a key player in a side and earning half the money a waster on the bench earns.

It really is a golden opportunity now to stick to a strict wage structure (definitely not cater to Bruno's pandering for a new contract) and only pay superstar wages to bona fide superstars, if we ever acquire or develop (and if the latter, only once they've become that good).

I'd even suggest that getting Malacia in relatively cheap was good, but giving him 75K a week was quite a large wage given he's completely unproven.

Players who are due an upgrade are Martinez, Dalot, Garnacho and Mainoo, but I'd hope those upgrades be sensible, and that would be easier if we manage to shift quite a few of those who are not anyway near justifying their wage. Pleasantly surprised to see the sensible wages given to Zirkzee and Yoro. It's certainly a signal of more common sense going forward.

Due to missing out on CL football, every player (except for new signings) will get 25% cut in wages.

 

[wolvored]

Everyone earning above 200k can leave except for Bruno. That should kick-start the reset.

Yes this should be the maximum. Everything else should be performance based

 

[Lentwood]

This issue is now getting overblown. I'd even argue the wage bill is fine by now compared to 2-3 years ago.

Our weekly payroll is around 3.3m/week currently.

In the last 24 months, we've already cleared over 2 million/week in wages by the departures of De Gea, Ronaldo, Varane, Pogba, Cavani, Martial, Mata, Greenwood, and van de Beek. It's actually probably much closer to 2.5m than 2m.

That's close to 75% of the whole current payroll.

A lot of players from the current squad are also likely to leave within the next 24 months: Casemiro, Antony, Sancho, Maguire, Eriksen, AWB, Lindelöf, McTominay, Bayindir, etc. That's another more than 1 million shaved off the wage bill.

I'd argue that it's actually time to fill the wage bill again with a lot of new players. Mainoo and Garnacho will need improved terms as well, if they keep performing the way they have been. Probably other young players will get improved terms as well, if we start improving as a team. Fernandes might get a pay rise. De Ligt could take around 170k-200k/week.

My point is that it was a big issue 2-3 years ago, however now, I think our wage bill is actually pretty small for a club of United's size. It has become easy to fix it, if there is even an issue with it.

Guys like Mount earning big money is not an issue, if he plays and performs. PL players will get better contracts than guys coming from Portugal or Holland, especially someone coming from another big club, with big trophies and individual awards to their name. Comparing AWB and Dalot is also a good example of this. Or Martínez, who just joined 2 years ago from the Eredivisie, compared to Lindelöf who has been playing for one of the richest clubs of the richest league in the world for over 7 years now, and is not on his first contract at the club.

I think it's more about creating some kind of sensible structure so that you don't have a kid like Sancho coming into the club and earning about 1.7/8x what the current club captain and previous club captain earn.

It's also about acknowledging that not all transfers will work, and if they don't, we need to be able to move those players on. If they're on crazily inflated salaries that becomes impossible

 

[Rojofiam]

I think it's more about creating some kind of sensible structure so that you don't have a kid like Sancho coming into the club and earning about 1.7/8x what the current club captain and previous club captain earn.

It's also about acknowledging that not all transfers will work, and if they don't, we need to be able to move those players on. If they're on crazily inflated salaries that becomes impossible

Sancho wasn't just some random kid, though.

He was widely regarded as one of the best U21 players and best talents in the world. His United tenure has obviously been a massive failure so far, but the general consensus was wildly different at the time of his signing. It could be argued at the time that we got him for cheap at 73 million, as he was considered a 100 million talent. I think every other interested team was going to pay the 250k/week for him as well.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Disappointing if true.

I don't think we've actually changed much, if anything. Still handing out massive bumpers.

Joined	Player	Old Club	Old	New	Increase
2019	AWB	C.Palace	15	90	500,00 %
2020	Maguire	Leicester	90	190	111,11 %
2020	Amad	Atalanta	4,5	28,8	540,00 %
2021	Sancho	Dortmund	51,7	250	383,56 %
2021	Heaton	Villa	40	45	12,50 %
2022	Casemiro	Real Madrid	176,8	350	97,96 %
2022	Antony	Ajax	24,5	200	716,33 %
2022	Martinez	Ajax	19,4	120	518,56 %
2022	Malacia	Feyenoord	6,3	75	1090,48 %
2022	Eriksen	Inter*	155,5	150	-3,54 %
2023	Mount	Chelsea	80	250	212,50 %
2023	Onana	Inter	62,2	120	92,93 %
2023	Højlund	Atalanta	10,3	85	725,24 %
2023	Evans	Leicester	100	65	-35,00 %
2023	Bayindir	Fenerbahce	32,3	35	8,36 %
2024	Yoro	Lille	5,8	115	1882,76 %
2024	Zirkzee	Bologna	18,5	105	467,57 %
Joined	Player	Old Club	Old	First C	Increase	Now
2014	Shaw	Southampton	25	110	340,00 %	150
2017	Lindelof	Benfica	6	75	1150,00 %	120
2018	Dalot	Porto	2,6	25	861,54 %	85
2019	Bruno	Sporting	46,4	180	287,93 %	240

source: capology (not proofread)

You wouldn't expect Yoro/Zirkzee to be more than £50-60k if we'd actually changed.

Blimey, some of those wage increases are mad. Some not so as they were on very low wages elsewhere, but others surely a bit of an increase would have sufficed.

 

[Rojofiam]

I don't think we've actually changed much, if anything. Still handing out massive bumpers.

Joined	Player	Old Club	Old	New	Increase
2019	AWB	C.Palace	15	90	500,00 %
2020	Maguire	Leicester	90	190	111,11 %
2020	Amad	Atalanta	4,5	28,8	540,00 %
2021	Sancho	Dortmund	51,7	250	383,56 %
2021	Heaton	Villa	40	45	12,50 %
2022	Casemiro	Real Madrid	176,8	350	97,96 %
2022	Antony	Ajax	24,5	200	716,33 %
2022	Martinez	Ajax	19,4	120	518,56 %
2022	Malacia	Feyenoord	6,3	75	1090,48 %
2022	Eriksen	Inter*	155,5	150	-3,54 %
2023	Mount	Chelsea	80	250	212,50 %
2023	Onana	Inter	62,2	120	92,93 %
2023	Højlund	Atalanta	10,3	85	725,24 %
2023	Evans	Leicester	100	65	-35,00 %
2023	Bayindir	Fenerbahce	32,3	35	8,36 %
2024	Yoro	Lille	5,8	115	1882,76 %
2024	Zirkzee	Bologna	18,5	105	467,57 %
Joined	Player	Old Club	Old	First C	Increase	Now
2014	Shaw	Southampton	25	110	340,00 %	150
2017	Lindelof	Benfica	6	75	1150,00 %	120
2018	Dalot	Porto	2,6	25	861,54 %	85
2019	Bruno	Sporting	46,4	180	287,93 %	240

source: capology (not proofread)

You wouldn't expect Yoro/Zirkzee to be more than £50-60k if we'd actually changed.

Do you not realize we're a top 3 biggest and richest club in the world?

People are obsessed with us giving out high wages, and expect us to have a mid-table team's wage bill instead of a big club's.

 

[DutchSerb]

Some of these are shocking. Antony 200K? Casemiro almost a 100% increase? What the feck. Really hope we can ditch Sancho and Casemiro.

 

[FrankDrebin]

Thought I read that Antony is on 70k.

 

[tomaldinho1]

Thought I read that Antony is on 70k.

Yeah it’s been mentioned but people are ignoring or missing it. Our wage turnover is pretty good now, we’re below Pool for the last 5 years (assuming they get bonuses for having done generally better in bigger comps than us).

The capology site in particular has no accuracy as it just averages everything it sees online.

 

[NotThatSoph]

Zirkzee is on £56k it's widely reported? Only Capology and a few others claim the 105 figure? Also, the 115 to Yoro isn't as bad as you would think as I don't doubt a club like RM wouldn't match that

It's widely reported, based on Italian sources. Italian media uses net pay, UK media gross. 105k gross is, conveniently, almost exactly 56k net.

 

[Globule]

This issue is now getting overblown. I'd even argue the wage bill is fine by now compared to 2-3 years ago.

Our weekly payroll is around 3.3m/week currently.

In the last 24 months, we've already cleared over 2 million/week in wages by the departures of De Gea, Ronaldo, Varane, Pogba, Cavani, Martial, Mata, Greenwood, and van de Beek. It's actually probably much closer to 2.5m than 2m.

That's close to 75% of the whole current payroll.

A lot of players from the current squad are also likely to leave within the next 24 months: Casemiro, Antony, Sancho, Maguire, Eriksen, AWB, Lindelöf, McTominay, Bayindir, etc. That's another more than 1 million shaved off the wage bill.

I'd argue that it's actually time to fill the wage bill again with a lot of new players. Mainoo and Garnacho will need improved terms as well, if they keep performing the way they have been. Probably other young players will get improved terms as well, if we start improving as a team. Fernandes might get a pay rise. De Ligt could take around 170k-200k/week.

My point is that it was a big issue 2-3 years ago, however now, I think our wage bill is actually pretty small for a club of United's size. It has become easy to fix it, if there is even an issue with it.

Guys like Mount earning big money is not an issue, if he plays and performs. PL players will get better contracts than guys coming from Portugal or Holland, especially someone coming from another big club, with big trophies and individual awards to their name. Comparing AWB and Dalot is also a good example of this. Or Martínez, who just joined 2 years ago from the Eredivisie, compared to Lindelöf who has been playing for one of the richest clubs of the richest league in the world for over 7 years now, and is not on his first contract at the club.

I don't think our wage bill has ever truly been a problem when looking at overall figures compared to revenue. Even at it's worst it was manageable and still one of the more favourable in the league.

The problem is the balance, and the quality of the players being given high wages. Makes it harder to sell players, but it also probably makes some players overly comfortable, knowing that they'll never have it so good.

 

[Lentwood]

Sancho wasn't just some random kid, though.

He was widely regarded as one of the best U21 players and best talents in the world. His United tenure has obviously been a massive failure so far, but the general consensus was wildly different at the time of his signing. It could be argued at the time that we got him for cheap at 73 million, as he was considered a 100 million talent. I think every other interested team was going to pay the 250k/week for him as well.

Yeah but footballers are human beings. How would you feel if you worked at a place for years in a senior role and then a kid walked in off the street on double the money?

Just because the sums of money are much larger doesn't change the dynamics. The senior players should earn the most and the younger players should have to earn their stripes. Previous wage structure was all over the place.

 

[Sandikan]

Always have to take these media led wages with a pinch of salt, as per transfer fees, as journalists love to give the highest possible figure.
Chances are Mount isn't on 250k a week unless be becomes a World cup captaining player putting in 60 appearances a year with 20 goals a season.

However, the fact he's even talked about at the upper end of our scale just makes the whole transfer utterly criminal, and someone needs to be accountable for it.

You take a fairly middling underwhelming player who has 1 year left on his deal, and had a really poor season, and bang up to 50m on him, smashing him into your top 5 or 6 earners?!
If you didn't know better you'd think it was some slightly underhand stuff going on here.

 

[Sandikan]

Yeah but footballers are human beings. How would you feel if you worked at a place for years in a senior role and then a kid walked in off the street on double the money?

Just because the sums of money are much larger doesn't change the dynamics. The senior players should earn the most and the younger players should have to earn their stripes. Previous wage structure was all over the place.

It isn't as pronounced as this in real life workplaces, but new starters often earn more than longer term servers, as companies simply have to pay market rates to attract new staff. And they're not dumb, they're not going to suddenly up everyone else's money because of it.

 

[HookedOnAPhelan]

Isn't our wage to revenue ratio extremely healthy?

Yes. Our wage bill isn't high compared to other comparable clubs (no matter how much the media try to portray it that way), it's just that our results over the last decade obviously have been utterly shite so we've gotten almost no bang for our buck.