Colin1
Senior Master Sergeant
10.) KANU (Portsmouth)
One of 17 Pompey players who are out of contract this summer, Kanu is one of the highest earners along with Jermaine Pennant and Sol Campbell. For those quite sizeable (estimates put them at £40,000 a week) wages, Kanu has contributed the grand total of one goal this season. Never again will a club the size of Pompey pay those kind of wages, and they will be very happy indeed to see the Nigerian head for Australia and one final payday this summer.
9.) DWIGHT YORKE (Sunderland)
The figures involved may be a lot smaller than a lot of the names on this list, but Yorke has earned around £1m over the past year to make four Premier League starts. Offered a new one-year contract when Sunderland were struggling to sign players, Roy Keane then brought in the likes of Steed Malbranque and Teemu Tainio and Yorke found himself kicking his heels and still picking up a hefty wage. The owners will be happy to get his wages - and a few more - off the books this summer.
8.) DARIUS VASSELL (Manchester City)
He may be on a contract drawn up before Manchester City became the richest club on the planet, but England strikers don't get paid peanuts. Vassell is out of contract this summer but is still unbelievably only 28 years old so should have no problem picking up a new contract with the likes of Wolves or Sheffield United. Whether anyone will be paying him £40,000 a week in wages again is another question, and one that probably has the shortest of answers.
7.) DECO (Chelsea)
Made the list of ten worst buys of the season last week and we suggested he may soon be on his way from Stamford Bridge, just a season after his arrival. Ticks the boxes marked 'old', 'overpaid' and 'lacking in motivation' that are the criteria for an exit from Chelsea this summer. He has clearly struggled to adapt to the rigours of Premier League football, and if Inter Milan can come up with the requisite £100,000 a week, you get the feeling that Chelsea may not mind taking a hit on the £8m they paid a grateful Barcelona for his services.
6.) SOL CAMPBELL (Portsmouth)
Never has one player benefited so greatly from the concept of the free transfer. Campbell has never cost anyone a transfer fee so has been able to command fantastic wages at both Arsenal and now Portsmouth, with some estimates placing his wages close to the £100,000-a-week bracket. His contract expires in the summer, and we fail to see a Pompey side scrabbling for survival and loose change shelling out any more money on a 34-year-old defender. This time he really might go abroad.
5.) MICHAEL BALLACK (Chelsea)
The German says that he wants to stay at Chelsea in 'Man Who Earns £120k A Week Wants To Continue Doing So' shock but with Chelsea looking to reduce their wage bill this summer, the 32-year-old Ballack looks set to be offloaded. If he can be persuaded to leave, that is. The flaw in the plan will be finding a club chairman who has been paying scant attention to English football over the last three years to stump up the cash to keep him happy.
4.) DIDIER DROGBA (Chelsea)
If Chelsea have two aims this summer - to bring the wage and the age bills down - then 31-year-old Didier Drogba will be top of the list to exit. Brilliant goalscorer he may be on his day, but he also has only one year left on his contract and this is likely to be the last time Chelsea could recoup any real money for a player on upwards of £90,000 a week. Inter Milan and Real Madrid are two possible options, with his first love Marseille unlikely to raise the necessary cash.
3.) DARREN BENT (Tottenham)
If you believe a wage list circulated last season then Darren Bent was then the 19th best-paid player in the world. The list is questionable in the extreme as the likelihood of Spurs breaking their wage structure to pay Bent £90,000 a week seems low, but it's fair to say that any player moving for £16.5m is going to be on a fair whack. With 'Arry probably needing to sell this summer before he can buy - and with a traditional 'big man' on his wanted list - Bent could find himself out on his ear. There will be plenty of takers at half the inflated price Spurs paid for his services.
2.) MICHAEL OWEN (Newcastle)
Never has there been a more obvious example of football finances gone mental - that a club on the brink of relegation is paying a player to sit on the bench. Owen has been a massive, unmitigated waste of money for Newcastle and they will be glad to see his £5m-a-year wages off the bill this summer, albeit on a free transfer. A signing that was a statement of intent back in 2005 looks nothing short of ridiculous in 2009.
1.) JOEY BARTON (Newcastle)
The scary thing is that there's still a pretty long list of clubs who would reportedly consider taking on Barton's £60,000-a-week wages, including Blackburn, Bolton, Sheffield United and unbelievably Tottenham. The jailbird midfielder is likely to have made the last of his 32 appearances for the Toon, with the alleged decrying of local hero Alan Shearer as a 'sh*t manager' the last straw in a bale big enough for a shire horse. The club will happily write off the bulk of his £5.7m to get rid of the walking PR disaster that is having Barton on your books.
One of 17 Pompey players who are out of contract this summer, Kanu is one of the highest earners along with Jermaine Pennant and Sol Campbell. For those quite sizeable (estimates put them at £40,000 a week) wages, Kanu has contributed the grand total of one goal this season. Never again will a club the size of Pompey pay those kind of wages, and they will be very happy indeed to see the Nigerian head for Australia and one final payday this summer.
9.) DWIGHT YORKE (Sunderland)
The figures involved may be a lot smaller than a lot of the names on this list, but Yorke has earned around £1m over the past year to make four Premier League starts. Offered a new one-year contract when Sunderland were struggling to sign players, Roy Keane then brought in the likes of Steed Malbranque and Teemu Tainio and Yorke found himself kicking his heels and still picking up a hefty wage. The owners will be happy to get his wages - and a few more - off the books this summer.
8.) DARIUS VASSELL (Manchester City)
He may be on a contract drawn up before Manchester City became the richest club on the planet, but England strikers don't get paid peanuts. Vassell is out of contract this summer but is still unbelievably only 28 years old so should have no problem picking up a new contract with the likes of Wolves or Sheffield United. Whether anyone will be paying him £40,000 a week in wages again is another question, and one that probably has the shortest of answers.
7.) DECO (Chelsea)
Made the list of ten worst buys of the season last week and we suggested he may soon be on his way from Stamford Bridge, just a season after his arrival. Ticks the boxes marked 'old', 'overpaid' and 'lacking in motivation' that are the criteria for an exit from Chelsea this summer. He has clearly struggled to adapt to the rigours of Premier League football, and if Inter Milan can come up with the requisite £100,000 a week, you get the feeling that Chelsea may not mind taking a hit on the £8m they paid a grateful Barcelona for his services.
6.) SOL CAMPBELL (Portsmouth)
Never has one player benefited so greatly from the concept of the free transfer. Campbell has never cost anyone a transfer fee so has been able to command fantastic wages at both Arsenal and now Portsmouth, with some estimates placing his wages close to the £100,000-a-week bracket. His contract expires in the summer, and we fail to see a Pompey side scrabbling for survival and loose change shelling out any more money on a 34-year-old defender. This time he really might go abroad.
5.) MICHAEL BALLACK (Chelsea)
The German says that he wants to stay at Chelsea in 'Man Who Earns £120k A Week Wants To Continue Doing So' shock but with Chelsea looking to reduce their wage bill this summer, the 32-year-old Ballack looks set to be offloaded. If he can be persuaded to leave, that is. The flaw in the plan will be finding a club chairman who has been paying scant attention to English football over the last three years to stump up the cash to keep him happy.
4.) DIDIER DROGBA (Chelsea)
If Chelsea have two aims this summer - to bring the wage and the age bills down - then 31-year-old Didier Drogba will be top of the list to exit. Brilliant goalscorer he may be on his day, but he also has only one year left on his contract and this is likely to be the last time Chelsea could recoup any real money for a player on upwards of £90,000 a week. Inter Milan and Real Madrid are two possible options, with his first love Marseille unlikely to raise the necessary cash.
3.) DARREN BENT (Tottenham)
If you believe a wage list circulated last season then Darren Bent was then the 19th best-paid player in the world. The list is questionable in the extreme as the likelihood of Spurs breaking their wage structure to pay Bent £90,000 a week seems low, but it's fair to say that any player moving for £16.5m is going to be on a fair whack. With 'Arry probably needing to sell this summer before he can buy - and with a traditional 'big man' on his wanted list - Bent could find himself out on his ear. There will be plenty of takers at half the inflated price Spurs paid for his services.
2.) MICHAEL OWEN (Newcastle)
Never has there been a more obvious example of football finances gone mental - that a club on the brink of relegation is paying a player to sit on the bench. Owen has been a massive, unmitigated waste of money for Newcastle and they will be glad to see his £5m-a-year wages off the bill this summer, albeit on a free transfer. A signing that was a statement of intent back in 2005 looks nothing short of ridiculous in 2009.
1.) JOEY BARTON (Newcastle)
The scary thing is that there's still a pretty long list of clubs who would reportedly consider taking on Barton's £60,000-a-week wages, including Blackburn, Bolton, Sheffield United and unbelievably Tottenham. The jailbird midfielder is likely to have made the last of his 32 appearances for the Toon, with the alleged decrying of local hero Alan Shearer as a 'sh*t manager' the last straw in a bale big enough for a shire horse. The club will happily write off the bulk of his £5.7m to get rid of the walking PR disaster that is having Barton on your books.
