High Life

HIGH LIFE #13 Oct 2017 109 H e may have been the bridesmaid to fellow superstar Lionel Messi during his six seasons with Spanish football giants Barcelona, but that all changed this summer when Brazilian sensation Neymar was signed by Paris St-Germain in a deal that stunned the world. In an instant, Neymar not only smashed the previous world record transfer fee of £89.3 million paid by Manchester United for Paul Pogba 12 months earlier – with PSG splurging a phenomenal £198 million to deliver him to France – but also became the highest paid player on the planet with an annual salary of £28 million (US$53 million), sponsorship not included. In total, luring Neymar away from Barcelona will cost PSG around £450 million over five years including the transfer fee, wages and bonuses, while Neymar’s pay makes for remarkable reading when broken down. The 25-year-old will pocket almost £540,000 per week after tax, which equates to £77,000 per day, £3,200 per hour and £53 per minute. His wage alone is enough to buy the world’s most expensive road-legal production car – the £3.7 million Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita – seven times over each year. Or, as the UK’s Sky Sports noted, a new Audi sports coupé like the one he drove to the airport on his way out of Barcelona every single day.