Last night, AC Milan and Juventus drew at San Siro. It was a goalless night, but most will agree it was a fair draw on the pitch. Regarding matters off the pitch, however, the Bianconeri side costs about twenty million more in wages than Milan, give or take.
In fact, Dusan Vlahović alone, who returned to availability after injury, earns almost half of the combined total of Milan’s starting players. And the imbalance becomes even more pronounced when considering the weight of the salaries of those players who have failed to meet expectations. In fact, fans often turn to platforms like melbet to bet on these big Serie A clashes, where such financial disparities can influence expectations around squad depth and performance under pressure.
The Juventus squad:
The highest-paid players under Spalletti who participated in the match against Milan are Yildiz and David, both earning €11.10 million per year. The Turkish player has just renewed his contract and has set a new wage ceiling at Juventus, while the Canadian still has to earn the club’s full trust. The other most prominent players in terms of gross salary are Bremer (€9.25m), Conceição (€7.03m), Locatelli (€6.48m), and McKennie (€5.24m), not coincidentally many of whom are already tied down for the near future.
What increases the dissatisfaction on the Juventus side is the burden of the reserves, who are unlikely to solve Spalletti’s problems given their performances since his arrival: from Openda, who earns €7.40m gross, to Koopmeiners at €5.90m, down to Milik’s €2.24m, as he has once again become unavailable after just two brief appearances. The most unusual figure remains that of Vlahović, who, due to a loyalty bonus agreed at signing, earns €22.20m gross this year. The wage bill had been significantly streamlined by Giuntoli, but some recent decisions have not paid off technically, and for this reason Juventus’ accounts remain in the red when comparing squad costs with results on the pitch. For Juventus, fourth place is synonymous with survival—a new starting point for a relaunch plan aimed at consolidating Spalletti’s key players and then strengthening the squad with a cost-saving approach on transfer fees, focusing especially on free transfers.
What about the AC Milan team?
The wage bill at Milan, or rather, at Casa Milan, has in recent years always been a very delicate and closely monitored topic. With the concept of “sustainability” placed first by Elliott and then by RedBird, salaries are clearly one of the most important items for achieving a healthy balance sheet.
The club is therefore very careful both with contract renewals and with the salary offers put forward to transfer targets. Since the club has been managed by investment funds, no strict wage cap has ever been officially set to the last cent, but broadly speaking, under Elliott (which had to lift the club out of the financial collapse of the Chinese ownership) the threshold was around €4 million net, whereas now it is around €7 million. This remains a complex calculation, considering that many players have variable earnings tied to numerous bonuses, while others benefit from the “Decreto Crescita” tax relief. What is certain is that Milan’s 2025–26 starting eleven has a higher gross salary share than the bench players.
By the way, many supporters who want to stay updated on these squad dynamics and place bets on upcoming matches prefer using the melbet download option to get the app directly on their phone for faster access and a smoother experience.
Excluding bonuses, the highest-paid members of the theoretical starting eleven are Leão and Maignan, fresh from a contract renewal, on €5.5m net (€7.15m with the tax relief), followed by Pulisic (€4m net, €5.2m gross), Modrić, Rabiot, and Tomori (all three on €3.5m net, though the first two weigh €6.4m gross, and the Englishman €4.5m). Looking at the bench, the most expensive is Nkunku with €5m net (€9.2m gross without the tax relief), followed by Ruben Loftus-Cheek (€4m–€5.2m), Jashari (€2.8m–€5.2m), Estupiñán, Gimenez and Ricci (€2.5m–€4.6m).
