BlueCo accelerates Strasbourg's pay race as Ben Chilwell becomes top earner | OneFootball

Ben Chilwell’s arrival late in the window made him Strasbourg’s highest earner on €300,000 a month, the latest twist in a summer when the club’s top wage changed hands three times after BlueCo’s takeover.

According to L'Équipe, Emmanuel Emegha first chased that status after scoring 14 in 27 league matches and attracting RB Leipzig, Napoli, Newcastle and Aston Villa. He accepted a one year stay with Conference League exposure, the captaincy and a rise from €135,000 to €250,000, with a view to going close to €400,000 at the Blues. He then spent much of the season injured.

Before that bump, Sebastian Nanasi had led the dressing room on €160,000. In parallel, Ismaël Doukouré’s fraught extension talks saw him study a Chelsea proposal, reject Strasbourg’s offer and be briefly dropped, before signing to 2028 with a promise of the club’s best wage, roughly matching Emegha’s.

Doukouré shared top spot for 12 days. Then Chilwell arrived, having negotiated an amicable exit from Chelsea with two years left, the London club paying part of a remaining deal worth €850,000 a month. He was never going to take a tenfold cut, so talks moved quickly and on the first of September he agreed a new club benchmark, more than double Kévin Gameiro’s pre-BlueCo record.

Behind him sit Doukouré and Emegha on €250,000, Amougou and Enciso on €200,000, with Nanasi, Omobamidele and Doué at €160,000, then Panichelli and Barco on €120,000. The average gross monthly wage is €100,000.

Source: L'Équipe