How Ronaldo and Ramsey ran up a record wage bill that is crippling Juve
Robin Bairner
- Updated: 23 May 2023 08:55 CDT
- 3 min read
Juventus’ wage bill for the 2020-21 season makes for grim reading, with the Serie A club having spent a record sum on salaries to only finish fourth in the standings.
Juve went into the season having won the previous nine Scudetti but under the guidance of rookie head coach Andrea Pirlo only limped into the Champions League spots.
It was a campaign that has set the scene for a dramatic fall from grace for Italy’s leading club, with Juve presently foundering in seventh place in Italy’s top flight, some eight points behind Napoli in fourth.
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Although they progressed into the last-16 of the Champions League by topping a group containing defending champions Chelsea, they already appear out of the domestic title race.
Furthermore, their dire economic situation - which saw them require a €400 million capital injection in the summer from their parent company Exor - has been made all the more evident by the desire of president Andrea Agnelli to form a breakaway European Super League. Only similarly ailing Barcelona and Real Madrid are still involved in the project after clubs from England and Italy pulled out.
Juve, though, have pushed themselves into the position due to their expenditure on wages last season, which came to a record €174m, according to Gazzetta dello Sport.
The figure is reported to be the highest ever spend for a Serie A club.
Who is on big money at Juventus?
There were seven players who were earning upwards of €190,000 a week, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, whose mammoth wage packet of €31m net per year forced Juve to sell him to Manchester United on a cut-price deal.
The Turin side’s greatest headache, though, is the list of players otherwise earning mega deals. Paulo Dybala, Leonardo Bonucci and Matthijs de Ligt have proved themselves worth the money over the longer term, but the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Adrien Rabiot, Wojciech Szczesny and Alex Sandro will be difficult to move on because of their mega wages.
It is a situation that echoes the problems that Barcelona are suffering, whereby huge contracts are set to keep average players at a club, rendering them unwilling to move.
