I deserve my £50k-a-week wage

[Popey]

Nicklas Bendtner: I deserve my £50k-a-week wage... I've had to give up skiing for football!

Nicklas Bendtner has risked the wrath of credit crunch-hit fans by insisting footballers are worth their multi-million-pound contracts — because they have to make sacrifices such as not going skiing.

Bendtner, who will line up for Denmark against England in tomorrow night’s friendly in Copenhagen, is paid £50,000 a week by Arsenal.

But just over a week after Chelsea stunned the nation by paying £50million for Fernando Torres and giving the Spaniard a £170,000-a-week deal, the Dane insisted Barclays Premier League stars are worth every penny.

Bendtner said: ‘There is a price to pay as well for us players. Personally, I think I pay a big price with my body, my time and with never being able to have privacy when I am out and around other people.

‘I am not complaining. It’s a natural part of being a professional footballer but it is definitely a price to pay when, for example, you can’t go out to eat in a restaurant with your girlfriend without photographers chasing you. The biggest thing I miss because of football is that I really, really love to go on a skiing holiday but as long as I have my career, I can’t do that because of the risk of being injured.

‘That is one thing that has been taken away from me by football that other young people can do. They have the freedom to decide how to spend their time. I see friends doing interesting things with their lives but I have always made football my first priority.

‘I would lie if I said that I didn’t enjoy the money I earn in football. It’s always fair to ask whether players are worth the incredible amounts of money we earn and ask whether we earn too much.

‘Somehow I believe that we must be worth our salaries because that is how the mechanism of society works. As long as I work as hard as I can, I believe I am worth what is coming my way.’

'We spend an incredible amount of time, energy and focus on our football career. When we are not training or playing matches, we still have to live for football.'

Bendtner, 23, grew up in the suburbs of Copenhagen and played for Tarnby Boldklub before joining FC Copenhagen’s youth ranks and then moving to Arsenal’s academy in 2004.

These days, he is the biggest draw in Danish football, famed for holding such a high opinion of his own talent, as seen in one of the quotes of last season: ‘If you ask me if I am one of the best strikers in the world, I say yes.’

Also keeping him on the front pages, as well as the back, is his split from a high-profile relationship with a baroness, Caroline Luel-Brockdorff, only seven weeks after the birth of their child.

Bendtner added: ‘It is difficult to compare a footballer’s wage to the wage of a bank manager or the manager of a large company.

‘They are without a doubt putting a lot into their jobs and they are important to other people’s lives as well but my line of work is different to that.

‘I am in the football business and, on the highest level where Arsenal are, football is first-class entertainment. So it is wrong to compare my salary to the salary of businessmen. Compare it to movie actors instead.

‘When I was a boy, I only played for the sake of the game. I never thought about money or being famous. I didn’t know that one day I could become rich from football.

‘Later I found out that football could be good business for me, that the amount of money was actually really big, but my dream is always to play football as good as possible, to score goals, to win games and trophies. I never dream of money.’

Ambition has prompted Bendtner to consider a move away from the Emirates at the end of this season because he has slipped behind Robin van Persie and Marouane Chamakh in the pecking order for centre forwards.

‘I am happy to be an Arsenal player but, of course, I must play more,’ said the Dane, who has started only one match in the Barclays Premier League this season.

‘I mean that I’m good enough to be in the line-up. I will play this season to the end as an Arsenal player and then make a decision on my status in the summer. If I’m still happy then I will stay. Otherwise, we must see what will happen.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... z1DNBQkUBS

[Dejan]

No, you don't.

[Gould]

so what would u rather do. eat a kebab or be set for life after a month:/ we all know the answer if i was good enough to play in professional football id do it for 200quid a week. heck id do it for free and sleep in my car.. because i want to be there!

[CynicalGooner]

Poor logic mr Bendtner

I don't think footballers should ever try to justify the kind of money they earn, everyone knows it's insane, including them. They should just keep their heads down and don't talk about money to the press.

[gzagee]

Poor logic mr Bendtner

I don't think footballers should ever try to justify the kind of money they earn, everyone knows it's insane, including them. They should just keep their heads down and don't talk about money to the press.

Why not? If the clubs are willing to pay that much, then sure they can.

As Jay says if the club is willing to pay it then....
I personally don't see much wrong with what he's saying. He's answering a question put to him and, he's talking sense.

[TRA Dial Square]

so what would u rather do. eat a kebab or be set for life after a month:/ we all know the answer if i was good enough to play in professional football id do it for 200quid a week. heck id do it for free and sleep in my car.. because i want to be there!

This is the question I was going to ask here.

Do you think if a player was on what I could be on w/ a job I'm going for this week - Which is roughly £250pw. WOULD they honestly be doing the job they are?

But then again, to answer that I think they would b/c I think that most the guys playing football would rather be playing football than sitting at a booth somewhere typing away, and/or selling Burgers.

Therefore this whole "I'm worth 50k pw" has stemmed from what clubs managers/owners try and claim their player is worth.

Although I REALLY HATE the fact that most these footballers earn more than what Doctors, Nurses, Police Officers, Firemen/women and Soldiers do.

[CynicalGooner]

Poor logic mr Bendtner

I don't think footballers should ever try to justify the kind of money they earn, everyone knows it's insane, including them. They should just keep their heads down and don't talk about money to the press.

Why not? If the clubs are willing to pay that much, then sure they can.

Because it's unseemly and distasteful. Players simply shouldn't answer questions about money in my opinion, it's a contentious subject at the best of times.

Why are football players not worth this kind of money? Well that's a different argument altogether, but his example annoys me because movie stars are not worth the money they are paid either. Long story short, it's always the lowest bidder who has to stump up. Going to the cinema these days costs a small fortune, Arsenal tickets now cost up to £100 which has effectively priced out most of our real fans, we're a working class club you know, much as the board ignores the fact.

[Gould]

i dont think its the case with any player a club pays what a club thinks a player deserves. i think its the fact they pay them peanuts they will go else where.. they need a salary cap and so forth on things.. the flip side of wages is one overlooked which is how much a player makes them marketing wise! but that should be cut into a % age in my opinion

[Est83]

Wow, the first line of that article is really stirring the shite pot! "I don't get to ski, therefore I deserve my £50k!"

He gives an example of something that he could do carefree if he wasn't a football player and no doubt he'll get crucified for it!

Personally I don't think anyone in the world deserves to earn anywhere near £50k a week, let alone the £200k+ figures earned by some other players. HOWEVER, with the mooney that goes into football (mainly coming from the fans, directly or indirectly through their interest (TV money)) the majority of the money should go to the players! We pay to see the players that entertain us, not the boardmembers, groundsmen etc... and certainly not the medical staff! Useless twats!

Most players earn a proportional amount to the size of their club (bar some "super clubs" of course!)

[TRA Dial Square]

and certainly not the medical staff! Useless twats!

[Gould]

and certainly not the medical staff! Useless twats!

oh they are medical staff. i thought they was apprentice road sweepers they wanna get back to the roads because there useless at medical side of life

[Inchpräctice]

Jeez the Mail really love to hate Bendy don't they?
Shit stirrers.

People often talk about high player wages but it isn't the players fault that they're so high. Blame Sky Sports for that one.

[Popey]

I think they earn to much but what about moviestars? we never talk about them. I think this is a lot worse. we are still living in the middle age but we don't really accept or see it. there are still wretches and kings all over the world. and stars like nic are kings in this world.

[StLGooner]

I think professional athletes should make more than movie stars (and they might, I'm just not sure). Movie stars can usually work until they die, but athletes have a short career compared to most people so they should get paid well, cause they would like to retire one day too, like the rest of us. Plus, they're in the spotlight, and their lives are critiqued and watched over everyday, and they don't get much privacy just like movie stars.

[Popey]

I think professional athletes should make more than movie stars (and they might, I'm just not sure). Movie stars can usually work until they die, but athletes have a short career compared to most people so they should get paid well, cause they would like to retire one day too, like the rest of us. Plus, they're in the spotlight, and their lives are critiqued and watched over everyday, and they don't get much privacy just like movie stars.

jep. and athletes also destroy their body. movie stars don't.