Chris Maduewesi
Member
Most Footballers are on a roller-coaster considering the kind of bumper pay that they earn and Nigerian players are not left out in the largess.
Nigerian footballers might not be up there when it comes to earning mega bucks like in the bracket of Cristiano Ronaldo,Lionel Messi or Zlatan Ibrahimovic, however they earn quite a handsome sum.
And in the era of the value of Naira plummeting anyhow, if they convert their Dollar, Pound or Euro bills to the Nigerian currency, then they would remaining balling off the pitch.
Which explains why most Nigerian footballers would give an arm or a leg just to travel abroad to Europe, look for a club in an obscure league like Malta or Cyprus, one thing is sure, they get better pay there than in the Nigerian football league.
The dream of most Nigerian footballers, in fact all of them wants to travel abroad and play, there is better juice there than in the local league.
In this outgoing year,we have ranked five Nigerian players and how much they have made in 2014 while playing for their respective clubs.
Players like Yakubu Aiyegbeni who now plays for Qatari side Al Rayyan, were not considered because their earnings have not been disclosed or publicly available.
So below we have ranked from one to five, the highest earning Nigerian players this year.
1) John Obi Mikel:
Love him or loathe him, the Chelsea midfielder makes some cool cash playing for the Blues.
Mikel is on a weekly £75,000 wage bill at Chelsea, which if summed up amounts to £3.9million.
Quite a tidy sum for a Nigerian player, so we now all understand if Mikel displays a larger than life attitude if he comes to the Super Eagles.
2) Victor Moses:
Victor Moses is a player of Chelsea Football Club but currently on loan at Stoke City.
He earns a weekly pay of £50000, which amounts to £2.6m per annum in his annual pay.
He trails his Chelsea compatriot Mikel, on the list of highest earning footballers this year.
3) Obafemi Martins:
There must be a reason for Obafemi Martins to leave the allure of the European league for the Major League Soccer(MLS) to join Seattle Sounders.
Despite his impressive form for Spanish side Levante, he didn't waste anytime to move to USA when a lucrative offer came.
And having proved how vital that he is to Sounders, the 30-year old was in October rewarded with a new contract that will see him earn $3 million annually.
An upgrade from his previous $1.6 million that he was previously earning.
4) Emmanuel Emenike
The Super Eagles striker is on an annual pay of €2.4million at Turkish clubside, Fenerbache.
After signing from Spartak Moscow last year, the player is even expected to pocket a substantial fee for each match played.
He is on a four year contract at the club, with the deal set to expire in 2017.
5) John Utaka:
Not many still remember this former Super Eagles player, but he is still active and plays in the Turkish Süper Lig with Sivasspor.
The former Lens, Portsmouth and Montpellier player is said to be currently earning around €2 million in Turkey.
He signed for Sivasspor last year on a two-year deal, with his current contract set to expire next year.
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Worthy mention as well, the Uche brothers, Kalu in Al Rayyan while Ikechukwu in Villarreal. Other players like Taye Taiwo and Shola Ameobi equally make hefty fees for their clubs in Turkey.
While Ahmed Musa is another Nigerian player on a big pay.
Nigerian footballers might not be up there when it comes to earning mega bucks like in the bracket of Cristiano Ronaldo,Lionel Messi or Zlatan Ibrahimovic, however they earn quite a handsome sum.
And in the era of the value of Naira plummeting anyhow, if they convert their Dollar, Pound or Euro bills to the Nigerian currency, then they would remaining balling off the pitch.
Which explains why most Nigerian footballers would give an arm or a leg just to travel abroad to Europe, look for a club in an obscure league like Malta or Cyprus, one thing is sure, they get better pay there than in the Nigerian football league.
The dream of most Nigerian footballers, in fact all of them wants to travel abroad and play, there is better juice there than in the local league.
In this outgoing year,we have ranked five Nigerian players and how much they have made in 2014 while playing for their respective clubs.
Players like Yakubu Aiyegbeni who now plays for Qatari side Al Rayyan, were not considered because their earnings have not been disclosed or publicly available.
So below we have ranked from one to five, the highest earning Nigerian players this year.
1) John Obi Mikel:
Love him or loathe him, the Chelsea midfielder makes some cool cash playing for the Blues.
Mikel is on a weekly £75,000 wage bill at Chelsea, which if summed up amounts to £3.9million.
Quite a tidy sum for a Nigerian player, so we now all understand if Mikel displays a larger than life attitude if he comes to the Super Eagles.
2) Victor Moses:
Victor Moses is a player of Chelsea Football Club but currently on loan at Stoke City.
He earns a weekly pay of £50000, which amounts to £2.6m per annum in his annual pay.
He trails his Chelsea compatriot Mikel, on the list of highest earning footballers this year.
3) Obafemi Martins:
There must be a reason for Obafemi Martins to leave the allure of the European league for the Major League Soccer(MLS) to join Seattle Sounders.
Despite his impressive form for Spanish side Levante, he didn't waste anytime to move to USA when a lucrative offer came.
And having proved how vital that he is to Sounders, the 30-year old was in October rewarded with a new contract that will see him earn $3 million annually.
An upgrade from his previous $1.6 million that he was previously earning.
4) Emmanuel Emenike
The Super Eagles striker is on an annual pay of €2.4million at Turkish clubside, Fenerbache.
After signing from Spartak Moscow last year, the player is even expected to pocket a substantial fee for each match played.
He is on a four year contract at the club, with the deal set to expire in 2017.
5) John Utaka:
Not many still remember this former Super Eagles player, but he is still active and plays in the Turkish Süper Lig with Sivasspor.
The former Lens, Portsmouth and Montpellier player is said to be currently earning around €2 million in Turkey.
He signed for Sivasspor last year on a two-year deal, with his current contract set to expire next year.
*****
Worthy mention as well, the Uche brothers, Kalu in Al Rayyan while Ikechukwu in Villarreal. Other players like Taye Taiwo and Shola Ameobi equally make hefty fees for their clubs in Turkey.
While Ahmed Musa is another Nigerian player on a big pay.
