The newspaper has revealed a dossier on the salaries of Ligue 1, which has some surprising singularities.
Every year, L’Équipe publishes its investigation on the salaries of Ligue 1 and the main European championships. A dossier that once again demonstrates the overwhelming position of Paris SG in this field with salaries that have nothing to do with the competition in France.
Paul Pogba, a financial bet with little risk for AS Monaco.
However, the newspaper’s study also reveals surprising information about the treatment of several players in the French league. This is the case for Paul Pogba in particular. It is revealed that the 2018 World Cup champion, a global player and public icon before his series of injuries and positive test at Juventus Turin in September 2023, only earns “just” 200,000 euros gross monthly at AS Monaco. Financially, the Monegasque club did not take unreasonable risks to recruit the 33-year-old player since last year. Pogba, despite his status, ranks in the Top 10 of the Monaco club in terms of salaries, far from Eric Dier who tops the list with 330,000 euros monthly. The team indicates that the international player turned down offers “much more lucrative” from other clubs and specifies that the midfielder’s contract includes bonuses “for performances and appearances” that can boost his bank account. Evidence that AS Monaco was well aware of the sporting challenge that Pogba was embarking on after more than two years without playing. Valid concerns as “La Pioche” only took part in three league matches this season.
In Angers, reduced squad and declining salaries.
While the sports newspaper highlights the extravagant salaries at Paris SG, it also focuses on small clubs and those that are the least spenders every month. It is discovered that Angers ranks 18th and last in the elite league with an average gross monthly salary of 18,000 euros, more than twenty times less than the European champions (650,000 euros gross). This is much less than at Saint-Étienne (32,000 euros) even though the Greens play in Ligue 2. After prosperous years, SCO Angers has returned to reason by reducing its wage bill from 13 to 8 million euros by reducing its squad from 32 to 25 players. Angers only spends “only” 50,000 euros for Van den Boomen, the best-paid midfielder, with 150,000 euros being covered by Ajax Amsterdam who loaned him. Smart move.
French referees underpaid compared to those abroad.
They are the “men in black” of the French league and without them, the stars couldn’t shine. Ligue 1 referees earn an average of 145,000 euros per year (220,000 euros for referees operating at the international level). For each match officiated in Ligue 1, they earn 3543 euros plus 600 euros in daily allowances (for three days) as well as travel, hotel, and meal expenses. These are significant salaries but are still lower than what is practiced in the major European leagues (264,000 euros in La Liga, 194,000 in Germany, and 160,000 in England). A difference in treatment that recently led the refereeing body to demand a 10% increase, as reported by L’Équipe.
