Is the centre-back’s annual salary of 20 million euros worth it?

If a central defender in his prime can receive an annual salary of 20 million euros (approximately 165 million yuan) next year, that is, the 2026/27 season, will this mean that world football will usher in a period of skyrocketing player income after a period of skyrocketing transfer fees?

Perhaps such an offer will make people feel crazy, but this is the problem faced by the management of Bayern, the southern king of the Bundesliga. The 27-year-old French central defender Upamecano will usher in the expiration date of his current contract with Bayern next summer, and if Bayern wants to compete with giants such as Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona and even Paris. To keep this centre-back who is in his prime and currently in the top five, they have to pay a crazy price: According to the latest report from Swiss Sky Sports reporter Sacha-Tavolieri in mid-November, Bayern may have to pay a five-year offer of 100 million euros in order to reach a contract extension with Par, and the contract will last until 2031.

So, should this be continued or not?

When the four major central defenders Guey, Konate, Upamecano and Schloterbeck will all stir up the transfer market next summer, these star central defenders in their playing years will undoubtedly see a huge increase in income.

In fact, if Crystal Palace had not found a replacement this summer, maybe Guey would have put on the Liverpool uniform. But it is precisely because of this miss that it will undoubtedly be more difficult for Liverpool to chase Guey next summer - after all, Huang Saren is already in the game!

The 25-year-old age and stable defensive performance will inevitably cause other giants to start chasing the free agent Guey. The consequences of this can be imagined - a five-year contract will definitely bring a significant increase in Guey's income. If the signing fee is included, the total value may not be less than 7-80 million euros.

So, where Ge Yi will go, the sincerity of the wealthy family must be the basic premise, and the rest will depend on Huang Saren's order.

Bayern's central defender selection problem - renewing Yupa's contract is the safest but expensive. Although the cost of introducing new players may be reduced, the competition pressure is not small

In Bayern's choice to upgrade the central defender next summer, the protagonist will actually choose between Guey, Yupa and Konate. Among them, the problem undoubtedly lies in Yupa-the annual salary of 20 million euros is not impossible to give, but he is afraid of affecting the subsequent contract renewal arrangements.

However, if the team is not more confident about introducing Konate or Guey, what else can Bayern do?

The favorite of the top brass - Schlotterbeck.

A not-so-difficult problem with Schlotterbeck is that his contract with Dortmund runs until 2027, so if you want to get him, you must avoid Dortmund's lions opening their mouths. Although the player may have made it clear that he will not renew his contract, how much transfer fee is appropriate for him?

In Bayern's plan, Yupa + Shell, a central defender configuration that has the ability to press forward and steal, as well as the ability to intercept behind, and has the impact and ball-playing elements in the backcourt, is undoubtedly the most ideal match. But if Schlotterbeck's transfer fee exceeds 50 million euros, Bayern may have difficulty following up - unless the player stays at Dortmund until 27 years and joins Bayern as a free agent.

Barcelona can indeed be called "Bayern's second team" in recent years - after all, both sides have surprisingly consistent goals in the central defender.

Bayern is not the only one staring at Bayern. At least Barcelona's coach Flick also hopes to get these two to improve the defense.

For Bayern, Barcelona's "disruption" means that they must determine the issue of Yupa's contract extension as soon as possible. After all, once Hupa confirms his contract with other teams in advance, whether Bayern pursues Guey or Konate or introduces Schlotterbeck, they will inevitably be "slaughtered"!

Real Madrid - The upgrading of the defense has caused almost all central defenders on the market to be called the king of the Champions League.

A report from the Spanish media "AS" shows that Real Madrid, which has confirmed that it will end its cooperation with Rudiger and Alaba next summer, is bound to find at least two players in the backcourt to fill the gap in the defense.

So, among at least 5 people, including Yupa, Guey, Konate, Saliba and Van der Ven, who is Real Madrid's first choice?

There is no doubt that Van der Ven is the first player to be eliminated among them - even if he is the youngest option among them, after Bale and Modric, Real Madrid may not want to do business with Tottenham with a high probability;

Then, in fact, the only options will become Yupa, Gueye and Konate, the three players who are most in line with Real Madrid's transfer strategy in recent years, visa-free.

Moreover, coupled with Militao's constant injuries, Real Madrid will undoubtedly have a great ability to absorb central defenders next year to fill the huge gap in the defense. But getting these players will naturally be expensive.

In the summer of 2021, Alaba, who joined as a free agent from Bayern, will receive a huge income of at least 112.5 million euros from Real Madrid due to the sharing of signing fees in his five-year contract. Considering that the current central defenders such as Yupa and Guey are considered to be among the top ten currently active central defenders, once the signing fee is divided equally, it is actually not an unacceptable matter to return to Yupa's high annual salary of 20 million euros mentioned at the beginning.

Before the start of this season, Dezhuan compiled the salary rankings of the five major leagues. Among them, Alaba (€22.5 million) and Van Dijk (€21.1 million) are the only two players in European football this season who can rank in the top 15 salary tables as defenders..

So, considering the player premium caused by the scarcity of top central defenders and the signing fee for renewal with the original club, perhaps when the 26/27 season starts, more central defenders will become regulars on the high-paying list.

Whether an annual salary of 20 million euros for a central defender is worth it is difficult to say, but what is certain is that to measure whether a player is worth the high asking price, it actually depends on his market response - take Yupa as an example. Bayern's refusal to pay does not mean that teams such as Real Madrid and Paris are unwilling to pay. At the same time, the cost of bringing in a replacement will not actually be much lower than the cost of the original choice.

Looking at it this way, it seems that the spring of center back players is coming - maybe they lack more exposure than frontcourt players, but at least their salaries are almost the same!