For years, the world of football – especially European football – has had its eyes trained on English football. The issue, most see, is how the smallest clubs in the English top flight can afford to go and buy players from just about any club in the world.

Full infographic; https://www.findbettingsites.co.uk/soccer-earnings/

How else do you explain the calibre of players who are moving to the likes of Wolverhampton Wanderers, for example? How can it be right that players would rather compete in the lower reaches of the English to-flight than, for example, play and win titles with FC Porto of Portugal?

However, while Wolves are actually a poor example of this given their historical potential, many European leagues dislike the Premier League given it’s ability to pay so much across the board. Where this falls down, though, is the change at the top. Yes, the average Premier League weekly wage is around $63,700. However, the highest earner in the Premier League – per hour – is Paul Pogba. Earning around $3,350/hour, his earnings seem ludicrous. And in keeping with Premier League largesse.

However, according to the sports bookmaker site Find Betting Sites, Pogba is only fifth in the world for earnings. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronald, though, earn over $12,000 per hour. That means that for all of the talk of Premier League players earnings such disgusting sums, Ronaldo and Messi often earn in about a quarter of a day what your average Premier League player does in a week!

The problem with the English perception, then, is where the wages go. You see clubs in the top-flight with little history or prestige signing players for eight-figure sums, buying players who normally would not consider them. All because even the smallest clubs in the Premier League has access to huge sums of money.

Fun at the bottom, tight at the top

However, as is noted above, not a single Premier League player can even get close to the wages that Ronaldo or Messi earn. Even Neymar Jr, who is often linked with a move to England with Manchester United, is close to the Premier League wage. He earns around $10.25k per hour – far more than top earner Pogba.

As such, it’s hard to see how the top clubs can be as much of an issue here as is made out. For example, ‘oil club’ Manchester City have one (active) player on the list; Sergio Aguero. Even he ‘only’ earns $2,675k per hour, however – far less than Messi, Ronaldo, or Neymar.

The main problem, then, is that the very elite players can earn far in excess what they can in England often by heading to Spain. Others choose to try out China. For example, Oscar, formerly of Chelsea, earns around $3,119k per hour with Shanghai SIPG. That’s far closer to Pogba is than Pogba is even to Gareth Bale of Real Madrid.

So, the next time you see Premier League money being ruled as the corrupting heart of all of football, just remember that, for the most part, the money is used to hold up the bottom rather than separate the top.