Worth the money?

The Independent ran a lengthy feature today with an exclusive report on players salaries.

The main thread of the story was that the average Premiership footballer earns a yearly salary of £676,000, which equates to £13,000 per week. Although this is a 65% increase since the last study was done back in 2000, it was a figure that I imagined would be higher.

It was interesting to think back a week or so ago, when Stuart Pearce stated that if was still a player City would be a club 'he would want to play for' and cited our wage structure as being comparable with teams we are competing against.

Looking through our squad then I would think it is likely that the majority of senior players in our first team squad would be earning in excess of the £13,000 average. Certainly James, Mills, Dunne, Distin, Reyna, Sinclair, Samaras, Cole, Vassell and Barton would be taking home no less than that.

The figure of £13,000 of course rises depending on the age of a player and also the position they play, which is an interesting fact when considering the amount that Joey Barton was believed to be asking for when he handed in his transfer request back in January.

If the figure of £28,000 is correct - which he wanted to ensure parity with his peers, it is a figure which far exceeds the averages both for his position and age.

For a 23 year old, the average Premiership wage is £582,500 a year (or around £10,500 a week) with the average midfield wage being £754,000 a year (£14,000 a week).

If Barton is on between £10,500 and £14,000 a week, the you could argue a case that he deserves a higher salary in comparison to the average wage as opinion would generally be that he is an above average Premiership midfielder (for his age at least).

If Barton was claiming he wanted 'parity' when demanding an improved deal, it doesn't appear that it was parity against the rest of The Premiership.

And if anything the report does highlight is that a majority in our squad are earning more than The Premiership average - and could that be a problem in itself?