Footballers have it pretty damn good.
They kick a ball around for 90 minutes and they get paid a king’s ransom for doing it – so it’s quite hard to have too much sympathy for them when they’ve been hard done by.
But we can’t help feeling a little sorry for Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The former Paris St Germain striker was unveiled as Manchester United’s new frontman after on of the summer’s most protracted transfer sagas.
The 34-year-old Swedish hitman was pictured grinning away in his United regalia after signing a one-year deal with the Old Trafford club.
But he might not be grinning quite so hard when he picks up his first pay packet. It might be a little short – well, it might be worth slightly less than expected.
The Financial Times reckons his wage could be down as much as 10% because of the depreciation of the value of the pound since Britain voted to leave the EU.
The star reportedly agreed a £220,000-per-week deal earlier in the summer to join Manchester United – before the EU referendum.
But now his sterling wage looks like it will have fallen 10% in value against both the dollar and the euro since he inked the deal – meaning it will cost him £22,000 a week – that’s more than £1m over the course of the year-long contract.
And he’s not the only top footballing figure to have fallen foul of the Brexit vote.
Arsene Wenger spoke out recently about how the vote might impact the Premier League at large.
In an interview with France Football, Wenger said: ‘It worries me, it shocks me. The players will see their wages come down a bit and the competition with Germany, of example, will be stronger.
‘In my opinion, it is overwhelmingly in the long-term that there are questions to be answered. The way in which England will leave the European Union will dictate the future of the Premier League.
‘If the league becomes less attractive, the broadcasters will offer less money for the rights, club revenues will decrease and the Premier League will suffer the consequences. There lies the problem.’
