Mohau Nkota’s salary in Saudi Arabia has been revealed, and it’s significantly higher than what he was getting paid when he was playing for Soweto giants Orlando Pirates.
The 20-year-old attacker completed a move to Saudi club Al-Ettifaq in the off-season, and has made an impressive start to life in the Middle East.
Since joining the club, Nkota has so far scored one goal, while laying on two others as he’s quickly become a favourite among his teammates and supporters.
Capology, a website that specialises in detailed data on player salaries, recently revealed that Nkota was taking home €19,615 per week.
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That’s roughly R396,000 per month, which calculates to approximately R1.6 million. In a year, he will have been paid €1,020,000 (roughly R20.6 million). And since footballers generally do not pay income tax on their salaries, that entire amount ends up in his bank account.
Nkota, though, is not even close to being among the top earners in the club. Former Liverpool star Gini Wijnaldum is the club’s best paid player and makes around €288,462 a week. And a majority of the club’s European players get paid more than €50,000.
Global football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is the highest paid player in the Saudi Pro League, and he makes a mouthwatering €4 million a week (R80 million), and €208,400,000 a year, which equates to R4.2 billion.
Despite the huge salary, for Nkota, the move is about far more than just money. At only 20, he’s already proving that South African players can adapt and thrive on the international stage, using his opportunity in Saudi Arabia as a platform to showcase his talent and maturity.
If he continues on this trajectory, his current salary might soon look modest compared to what could await him in Europe’s top leagues – or even among the elite earners of the Saudi Pro League.
Sport
