Secondary Research

Johnny Haynes

Johnny Haynes was regarded as the finest player to ever pull on a Fulham shirt and was held in such high regard, the Brazilian legend Pele once quoted him as the ‘best passer of the ball I've ever seen’. In his playing career Haynes managed to score 158 times in 658 appearances and was attracting attention from one of the giants in modern football: AC Milan. The Rossoneri famously had a bid of £80,000 rejected by Fulham which at the time was double the world transfer record. But more importantly once the £20 maximum wage fee was abolished, Haynes was rewarded with a £100 as the chairman at the time Tommy Trinder boasted he was worth £100 a week not knowing the wage cap would be abolished. But once the cap was lifted Haynes earnt the £100, the first of his time.

                                          Trevor Francis

Nottingham Forest, the reigning League champions and League Cup holders managed by Brian Clough, put in a bid for Francis which totalled just over £1 million. No player had ever been sold between English clubs for a seven-figure fee before, and the deal was sealed. While recognised as the first million pound player, the actual transfer fee for the player £1,150,000, including 15% commission which went to the Football League. There was a myth surrounding the story that the actual transfer fee was £999,999, £1 short of the million mark as Brian Clough wanted to ensure this milestone mark did not go to the player's head, but combined with the taxes and commission the eventual fee broke the million pound mark with the overall fee exceeded £1.1 million

Fernando Torres

On the 31st of January 2011, history was about to made as Chelsea football club had completed the signing of Fernando Torres from Liverpool football club on an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of £50 million. the total fee had smashed the former British record transfer fee for a player which was in 2007 when Manchester City had completed the signing of Robinho for £32.5 million from Spanish giants Real Madrid

                                                       Cristiano Ronaldo

On the 26 June 2009 Real Madrid had confirmed the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United for a staggering £80 million, making the Portuguese winger the most expensive football of all time. Alongside a six year contract worth €11 million per year and a monumental a €1 billion buy-out clause. This deal saw all previous record breaking deals for a play to move clubs completely blown out the water as the closest reported signing for a player was his teammate Kaka sign for the Spanish giants at a measly €68.5 million in comparison to his new counterpart, Ronaldo.

Samuel Eto'o

In the summer of 2011 another milestone in football was about to be set as Russian Billionaires Anzhi Makhachkala had completed the signing of Samuel Eto'o for a rumoured £21.8 million, but that wasn't the record breaking part of the deal. Shock waves were sent round the world as it was confirmed Eto'o would earn a colossal £17.9 million after tax for three seasons from the Russian club, meaning he would subsequently earn a mind blowing £419,000 a week.


                                          Yaya Toure

In 2010 Manchester City made Yaya Toure the highest earning player in the Premier League. The deal saw the ex-Barcelona player sign a 5 year contract, earning a staggering £55.6 million. The basic wage he would earn week in week out for City would see him collect a massive £185,000 a week before tax but that figure will increase to £221,000 when the Government's 50% tax bracket comes into force. On top of his unbelievable basic wage, the Ivory Coast international will also be getting an image rights payment of £1.65m a year plus an additional £823,000 bonus each time City qualify for the Champions League. Toure will furthermore collect a £412,000 bonus should he win the Champions League with City whilst there are also additional bonuses for winning the Premier League and FA Cup, all these perks to his contract are also tax free.