The Daily Bee: Erling Haaland Demands Hefty Wages in Next Contract

Good morning, everyone. Happy Friday.

After BVB’s loss to Ajax on Tuesday, I’m really hoping that the club can turn it around against Bielefeld, or I’m going to be in a bad mood all weekend. That is, unless I decide to see Dune. If you’ve seen it already, let me know how it was (no spoilers). I already saw No Time to Die and it was... pretty shocking.

Haaland Demands Serious Wages

As one of the most promising young players in world football, Erling Haaland has tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars waiting for him in his next contract, whether it be with Borussia Dortmund or any other club in the World.

According to ESPN, Haaland’s wage demands are going to be hefty. This article has his demands at about €35 million. This would be equivalent to more than half a million Euros per week (for comparison: the median American worker is expected to earn $1.7 million over the course of their entire lifetime).

This wage bill would exclude all but the richest clubs in Europe: Manchester City, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, and maybe Real Madrid. Combining his wages and his transfer fee would probably price out Bayern Munich and Liverpool. Borussia Dortmund, meanwhile, would have to get creative with their finances to keep Haaland on board under such wages. Unless he’s willing to accept a discount, it seems unlikely that BVB could hang onto him at such a cost. They’d probably have to start by dumping a lot of the deadweight on the books from players like Nico Schulz and Julian Brandt, and reaping whatever transfer fees they can.

Checking in on power rankings

Every once in a while, I like to take a look at Fivethirtyeight’s soccer power ratings. The ratings below are for the top teams in the Champions League. As you can see, Manchester City are at the top, with Bayern Munich right behind them. It should be noted that Ajax are 4th, ahead of last year’s champions Chelsea. Dortmund are understandably near the bottom, but have a decent chance to make it to the Round of 16.

The Daily Buzz

Has anybody seen Dune yet? Is it good?