By DAN KARELL
Manchester City may not win the English Premier League title this season but they’ve remained No. 1 on the salary charts.
Per a study conducted by ESPN the Magazine and SportingIntelligence called the Global Salary Survey, Man City pay their players the most compared to any sporting franchise across the globe. Man City players are paid on average $8,109,912 per season, according to the study which looked at 2012/2013 salary figures. Man City’s total wage bill topped $200 million, one of only three teams to spend that much on players.
In all, six European soccer teams were included in the top ten highest wage bills including Real Madrid and Barcelona at No. 4 and No. 5 respectively, Bayern Munich at No. 7, Manchester United at No. 8, and Chelsea at No. 10.
The study measured the total wage bills across world soccer, the NHL, the NBA, the NFL, MLB, Australian Rules Football, the Canadian Football League and even the Indian Premier Cricket League.
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CHELSEA PREPARE TO SPLURGE FOR COSTA
Diego Costa remains atop Chelsea’s summer transfer window wish list, and the club are prepared to pay an exorbitant amount to bring him to Stamford Bridge.
According to a report in The Telegraph, Chelsea are willing to meet Costa’s £32 million release clause from Atletico Madrid, and give him a contract worth slightly more than £48 million, meaning that Chelsea would spend £80 million on their investment in Costa.
Considering all of Chelsea’s striker issues this season, manager Jose Mourinho is hoping that Costa can replicate his impressive performances from this season. In 2013/2014, Costa has scored 34 goals in all competitions and is second in scoring in La Liga.
Atletico manager Diego Simeone seemed resigned to the fact earlier this week that he would lose his top scorer for the second year in a row, after the club sold Radamel Falcao last summer to AS Monaco.
GUNDOGAN EXTENDS WITH DORTMUND
Borussia Dortmund’s Ilkay Gundogan has postponed any talk of him leaving Germany this summer
The 23-year-old midfielder signed a contract extension with the club on Tuesday through June 2016. Gundogan hasn’t played a minute all season as he deals with a serious back injury suffered last August while with the German National Team.
“We are very pleased with this deal against the backdrop of the injury-related situation and we hope that Ilkay will contribute its full potential from the coming season for BVB,” Sporting Director Michael Zorc.
Gundogan played a key role for Dortmund last season as they made their improbable run to the UEFA Champions League final.
QUICK KICKS
Manchester United are trying to tempt Bayern Munich midfielder Toni Kroos to Old Trafford with a £260,000 per week contract. (REPORT)
Man United are also fighting with Chelsea to sign £30 million rated Southampton left back Luke Shaw. (REPORT)
Atletico Madrid midfielder Arda Turan is expected to be fit to play Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League semifinals. (REPORT)
AS Roma head coach Rudi Garcia has kept hope alive that his side can win the Scudetto, despite sitting eight points behind Juventus with five matches remaining. (REPORT)
France National Team head coach Didier Deschamps said that his World Cup squad of 23 players will be selected with Euro 2016 in mind. (REPORT)
Bayern defender Holger Badstuber has returned to light training at Bayern’s practice facility after two successive torn ACLs. (REPORT)
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What do you think of these reports? Surprised at the amount of money Man City pays their players? Do you believe Chelsea would spend that much money to sign Costa? Think that Gundogan can return to his past form next season?
Share your thoughts below.