By now we’re all accustomed to the wages and money in the Premier League being ridiculous, but sometimes we need a reminder and today that’s provided by Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Leo Bonatini.
The 26-year-old Brazilian is currently spending the season on loan at Grasshopper Zurich, his third loan spell in the last three years after falling down the pecking order at Wolves.
Things aren’t exactly going to plan in Switzerland, with Bonatini having managed just two goals in eight games so far.
That’s not really what Grasshoppers were looking for, particularly as Bonatini is the ‘most expensive player’ in the history of the league.
They report on recent claims that Bonatini is picking up 2.2m francs a year in Switzerland, which is just over £1.8m.
This ‘madness’ makes him the most expensive player in the history of the Swiss second division and means he’s currently costing 1.1m francs per goal thus far.
Fortunately, though, it seems this is not all being paid by Grasshoppers.
You see, they only signed Bonatini because they have a special relationship with Wolves, whose owner Guo Guanchang is the spouse of Grasshoppers owner Jenny Wang.
It was this relationship which allowed the move to happen in the first place, and it also means they are paying ‘nothing’ towards the big fee.
Instead, they’ve told Blick that Bonatini receives ‘expenses such as a car and housing costs’ from the club and the ‘collectively agreed bonuses’ the team agreed upon with the club.
Everything else is being paid by Wolves, which is pretty fortunate given collectively the entire 10 Super League clubs, that’s all the teams in Switzerland’s top division, only make 24m francs, around £20m a year.
Thus, Grasshoppers are ‘blessed’ to have ‘such a solvent godfather’ in the Premier League who can give them a player and cover his wages without a second thought, despite the fact his wages are pretty astronomical for the league he’s playing in.
