ROMELU LUKAKU is Inter Milan’s top-earning star with Alexis Sanchez earning more than DOUBLE Ashley Young’s pay.
The Italian giants are just one game away from clinching the 2020-21 Serie A title.
Antonio Conte’s side sit 11 points clear of second-placed Atalanta and 13 points ahead of Napoli and Juventus as they look to break the Old Lady’s nine-year title streak.
But this season hasn’t all been easy for Inter, with the club having been hit hard financially by the coronavirus pandemic.
The club’s owners – Suning Holdings – were forced to cease operations at their Chinese Super League side Jiangsu FC to focus on retail projects.
Shortly after, Pirelli ended their historic, £10million-a-year shirt sponsorship deal that had been running since 1995-96.
Inter Milan survived but several reports in Italy claimed the club failed to pay their players wages in January.
The Serie A leaders did eventually repay the missing wages in March, say reports.
But the back-pay – as well as the regular March payment – cost the club’s Chinese owners a small fortune.
After all, Inter’s wage bill sits at a staggering £1.37m per week, according to Corriere dello Sport.
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That adds up to £71.3m per year – and it’s believed those numbers are all AFTER tax, which could mean their gross tax bill could be closer to £138m.
Inter are reportedly chasing a £146m cash injection to ensure they can compete next season.
Corriere dello Sport claims Romelu Lukaku is the club’s top earner – taking home £142,000 per week.
The red-hot Belgian striker leads former Premier League colleagues Christian Eriksen (£125,000) and Alexis Sanchez (£117,000) at the top of the pile.
Arturo Vidal is the only other player with a take-home pay of over £100,000 per week, pocketing £104,000.
Achraf Hakimi (£85,000), Ivan Perisic (£77,000) and Stefan de Vrij (£71,000) are the club’s other top-earning stars.
But incredibly, superstar striker Lautaro Martinez is only the 13th-highest-paid player at just £46,000 per week.
That tally puts him below the likes of Ashley Young, Aleksandar Kolarov (both £50,000), Samir Handanovic, Milan Skriniar and Marcelo Brozovic (all £58,000).
At the bottom of the pile, backup stopper Daniele Padelli rakes in just £10,000 per week, below Ionut Radu (£17,000) and Alessandro Bastoni (£15,000).
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
