A new study has revealed that a former teenage wonderkid, presently struggling to find his footballing feet once again is one of the highest paid Nigerian players in Europe.
Five stars in the English Premier League, Two in the Serie A, another two in the Turkish Super League and one in the La Liga completes the list of top ten earning Super Eagles players in Europe.
Leicester City’s forward and Super Eagles star, Kelechi Iheanacho is reportedly the second highest paid Nigerian footballer in Europe, according to a study by Spotrac.
The 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup winner and the receiver of the said tournament’s Golden Boot award has endured a tough start to the new season having not featured at all in the Premier League as the highflying Brendan Rodgers side climb above champions Manchester City to second on the league table.
Yet the former Manchester City striker, who joined the Foxes for €27.7 million in the summer of 2017 earns a cool £60,000 (£3.12m per annum) weekly.
Sitting atop the chart, however, for the highest-paid Super Eagles player in Europe this season, is Iheanacho’s compatriot and fellow Foxes teammate Wilfred Ndidi.
The midfield enforcer was the Premier League’s top tackler of the 2018/19 season and has maintained those high standards this term as Leicester City has emerged as a surprising league title challenger.
Ndidi, 22, a key member of Gernot Rohr’s Super Eagles squad that earned two consecutive victories over Benin and Lesotho last week, is reported to earn about £75,000 a week (£3.9m per annum). The former Genk midfield general joined Leicester City for £17m in 2016.
Next on the Super Eagles top earners list is Everton’s playmaker Alex Iwobi who swapped Arsenal for the Toffees over the summer. The former Gunners Academy graduate cost Marco Silva’s side £40m and is weekly paid £50,000 (£2.6m p.a.) for his exertions.
Trabzonspor’s forward Anthony Nwakaeme and Watford’s Isaac Success completes the Super Eagles top five earners list in Europe with both earning £32,000 and £30,000 respectively weekly.
Retired Nigeria international and former Super Eagles skipper Mikel Obi picks up a weekly package of £30,000 to occupy the sixth position while the defensive duo of Torino’s Ola Aina and Kenneth Omeruo pocket £20,000 every week each.
In ninth and tenth positions are the centre back pairing of Udinese’s William Troost-Ekong and Brighton’s Leon Balogun whose weekly earnings are £19,500 and £18,269 respectively.
