Who are the top 6 highest earning Asian footballers in Europe?
Soccer stars like Shinji Kagawa, Son Heung-min and Yuto Nagatomo have been taking up key positions in some of the biggest clubs in the world – and picking up huge pay cheques in the process
1. Shinji Kagawa – Borussia Dortmund
Shinji Kagawa is perhaps one of the most famous of all the Asian players in Europe after numerous successes at Manchester United between 2012 and 2014. In 2013 Kagawa scored his first hat-trick for United, making him the first Asian player to score a hat-trick in the Premier League. The same year he became the first Japanese player to win a Premier League title.
Kagawa moved to the Bundesliga team Borussia Dortmund in 2014 for an undisclosed fee. He recently extended his contract until 2020, making his the highest wages demanded by an Asian player; he is rumoured to earn £130,000 (US$168,850) a week.
2. Son Heung-min – Tottenham Hotspur
Captain of South Korea Son Heung-min is one of the most high-profile Asian players in Europe – especially after Tottenham Hotspur broke records to sign him in 2015.
The 26-year-old signed with the Premier League team after moving from Bayer Leverkusen for US$28.6 million on a five-year contract. At the time of signing, this made him the most expensive Asian player in football history, in terms of transfer fees earning about US$104,000 a week.
He briefly dated pop singer Bang Min-ah from the K-pop group Girl’s Day when his football career started to take off in Germany between 2010 and 2015. He has since been romantically linked with actress Yoo So-young.