Neymar is rich. This much is not in doubt, but just how rich is he? Well, his contract leaked this week thanks to Football Leaks, we have an answer, in the form of his much-discussed Barcelona contract/transfer agreement.
According to the contract, Neymar's base salary is €5 million, which sounds like a lot. It is compared to a normal person, but not really compared to an athlete playing one of the major American sports.
Five million Euros comes to a smidge under $5.7 million. That's just more than half what the Philadelpia 76ers paid journeyman forward Gerald Wallace this year. The catch: Gerald Wallace didn't actually play games for Philly. They waived him, so he sat at home on his couch and collected a base salary nearly twice that of one of the three best soccer players in the world.
From Marca:
For each season of services rendered, Neymar receives €5 million gross, which on paper seems like a relatively low figure. However, the contract contains a number of clauses that boost that figure. Indeed, between his signing-on fee and bonuses, the former Santos striker can expect to pocket €45.9 million over the course of his five-year deal with the club.
By the end of his contract, Neymar's total earnings will roughly double his base salary, giving him a little more than $52 million for his five-year contract, which works out to a little more than Gerald Wallace's base salary this season.
So Neymar is doing better than a player who, again, a team is paying to stay the hell away from them. Barely better.
(H/T Marca)
Contact The18 Staff Writer Sam Klomhaus at Klomhaus@The18.com or follow him on Twitter @SamKlomhaus
