Craic On

Paid Too Much

I had a good debate with someone in a pub at the weekend as to whether Wayne Rooney was worth £300,000 a week.

His points were that:-

1.  No one was worth £300,000 a week

2.  He shouldn’t be paid more than a surgeon is paid

3.  He isn’t as important as a farmer. He isn’t necessary whereas a farmer is

Irrelevant

I thought that though the latter two are true, I felt they were irrelevant.

One was paid by the Government and the other got paid according to the market for their produce.

We don’t pay Wayne Rooney’s wages.

The fans may say they do but I don’t agree. They pay to see him. They are purchasing a product. They have a choice to buy or not to buy.

Employers

The only ones relevant here are Rooney’s employers. They will decide if he is worth it to them – and they are the ones who have to fork out.

£300,000 a week is £15m a year which is a lot of money – but not compared to Man Utd’s turnover last year of £363m.

It’s not huge compared to the £250m slump in the value of Man Utd on the Stock Market since Fergie quit.

Their Problem

As they are paying the money it is down to the owners and management at Man Utd to work out whether he is worth £300,000 a week to them.

If they think that his  value to the club is worth more than £300,000 a week then he is worth it to them if they pay him that £300K.

If his value to the club is £200,000 a week and he is paid £300,000 a week then he isn’t worth his wages.

If he is worth £500,000 a week to his club and he is paid £300,000 then he is good value and worth it to the club.

Every Bar

Of course the argument that footballers are paid too much must have been heard in just about every bar in the world.

Anyone who watches football or supports  a team would have argued over it before.

I have one opinion but I’m sure plenty would disagree with me – but opposing opinions are what football is all about.