Paul Pogba is world's most expensive player - but how does he compare to biggest buys by position?

 

Paul Pogba's £290,000-a-week wages will make him the highest-paid player in the Premier League ahead of Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic

• Paul Pogba left Manchester United in 2012 because they would not offer him wages of £65,000 a week 
• Pogba has now returned on mammoth £290,000 weekly wage
• It makes him English football's highest-paid player
• Team-mates Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are next best paid 
• Four Manchester United and four City players in top 10 earners

Paul Pogba can afford to allow himself a wry smile when he picks up his first pay packet at Manchester United. 

Four years after the club declined to pay him £65,000 a week, Pogba will be paid more than four times that amount to surpass Wayne Rooney as the Premier League's highest earner.

Back in 2012, United were alarmed by the demands that Pogba's agent Mino Raiola was making on behalf of a youngster who had made only seven first-team appearances, all as substitute.

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Paul Pogba will earn wages of £290,000 per week after taking Manchester United's No 6 shirt

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Pogba left the club in 2012 after United refused to pay him wages of £65,000 per week

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Pogba will be the highest earner in the Premier League after rejoining from Juventus

TOP 10 PREMIER LEAGUE EARNERS 

1: PAUL POGBA (MAN UNITED)

£290,000 a week until 2021 with a further year's option

2: WAYNE ROONEY (MAN UNITED)

£260,000 a week until 2019

3: ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC (MAN UNITED)

£250,000 a week until 2017

4: SERGIO AGUERO (MAN CITY)

£240,000 a week until 2019, talks over new deal ongoing

5: YAYA TOURE (MAN CITY)

£240,000 a week until 2017

6: EDEN HAZARD (CHELSEA)

£220,000 a week until 2020

7: DAVID SILVA (MAN CITY)

£200,000 a week until 2019

8: MESUT OZIL (ARSENAL)

£190,000 a week until 2018, talks over a new deal ongoing

9: DAVID DE GEA (MAN UNITED)

£185,000 a week until 2019

10: RAHEEM STERLING (MAN CITY)

£180,000 a week until 2020

All estimated figures pre-tax. Sums may vary according to bonus payments  

History shows Juventus agreed to pay the sum, Pogba developed into one of the best players in the world and now the 23-year-old is back at Old Trafford, on an estimated £290,000 a week.

The wages being paid underline how determined United are to return to the top after missing out on the Champions League in two of the last three seasons.

Pogba, Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are the three highest-paid players in the Premier League though Sergio Aguero is expected to burst into the group when he officially signs a new contract at Manchester City soon.

If Pogba stays the entirety of his six-year deal at United, he will collect £90m in wages. To put it in context, it would take Prime Minister Theresa May 629 years to earn the same amount. 

Shortly before the Premier League started, the whole of Manchester United was valued at £18m – one-fifth of Pogba's new contract.

Wage inflation has made top Premier League footballers among the best-paid people in the country, with figures akin to FTSE 100 business leaders.

With emerging markets like China offering top dollar and Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich expanding their commercial operations worldwide, English clubs have to dip into their pockets to keep the world's best happy.

Pogba's mind-boggling salary is still dwarved by the £500,000 a week earned by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo at Barcelona and Real Madrid, though they are one-man brands, selling millions of shirts for their clubs because of their name.

One day Pogba may do the same for United, but he can't at quite the same level yet.

The £89million fee is the highest ever paid for a footballer, narrowly trumping the £85.3million Tottenham received from Real Madrid for Gareth Bale

Getty

How does Pogba compare to other big buys?

Manchester United have smashed the world record transfer fee to land Paul Pogba - but how does it stack up against other big-money moves?
The £89million fee is the highest ever paid for a footballer, narrowly trumping the £85.3million Tottenham received from Real Madrid for Gareth Bale.
Here, Press Association Sport takes a look at what would be the most expensive team ever assembled by transfer fees paid for players in each position.
This is who makes the cut...

GOALKEEPER

GIANLUIGI BUFFON (£32.6million)

Reuters

Buffon cost Juventus £32.6million in 2001

Juventus paid a world-record fee for a goalkeeper to lure Buffon from Parma in 2001, with the Italian still number one with the Turin side and with Italy 15 years later.

DEFENDERS

Right-back: DANI ALVES (£27.5million)

juventus/instagram

Alves finally left Barcelona this summer

The flying Brazilian right-back was the target of a stealthy swoop by Barcelona on Sevilla in 2008, and spent eight fruitful years at the Nou Camp before moving on to Juventus this summer.

Centre-back: DAVID LUIZ (£50million)

Action Images via Reuters

PSG spent £50million on Luiz

The Brazilian is the most expensive defender on the list after his move from Chelsea to Paris St Germain was announced in June 2014.

Centre-back: JOHN STONES (£47.5million)

Stones has left Everton for City

Manchester City are believed to have paid close to £50million to Everton for the England defender, whose inconsistent performances last season did not put off Pep Guardiola from pursuing a deal.

Left-back: LUKE SHAW (£27million)

Shaw played for England at the 2014 World Cup aged just 18 before joining Manchester United.

MIDFIELDERS

Right midfield: ANGEL DI MARIA (£59.7million)

USA Today Sports

Di Maria flopped at United despite his astronomical price tag

A statement signing in its day, Louis van Gaal felt he had acquired the playmaker Manchester United needed in 2014 after making a huge investment in the Real Madrid player. It proved far from successful though, as Di Maria was shuffled off to PSG a year later.

Centre midfield: PAUL POGBA (£89million)

Not a match-winner in the typical sense, but Manchester United believe Pogba will add the midfield quality they have lacked in recent seasons and turn the team into champions again, four years after he left for a tiny fee to join Juventus.

Left midfield: JAMES RODRIGUEZ (£63million)

Getty Images

Rodriguez joined Real after an impressive 2014 World Cup

Real Madrid threw Monaco an estimated 80 million euros (worth £63million at the time) for the Colombian after he dazzled at the 2014 World Cup.

FORWARDS

Right forward: CRISTIANO RONALDO (£80million)

Reuters / Sergio Perez

Ronaldo cost Real £80m from United

Ronaldo developed from a tricky winger into a goal machine while at Manchester United, and Real Madrid shattered the transfer world record in 2009 to land the Portugal star after a long pursuit. He has since become Madrid’s all-time leading goalscorer.

Centre forward: GONZALO HIGUAIN (£76.5million)

Mike Hewitt

Higuain has sealed his big-money switch to Juve

Juventus paid the release clause in Higuain’s Napoli contract this summer to land the Argentinian who last season scored an all-time record 36 goals in a Serie A season.

Left forward: GARETH BALE (£85.3million)

Stu Forster

Bale was the world's most expensive player until Pogba rejoined United

The Welshman shone in the Premier League and Europe for Tottenham, and Real Madrid had to break the world transfer record to take him to the Bernabeu in 2013. Madrid have secured two Champions League trophies during his three seasons at the club.