Photo Gallery A Football Industry in Turmoil
In one of its latest exposés, the online whistleblower platform Football Leaks has revealed the contents of German midfielder Toni Kroos' contract with Real Madrid. The player left FC Bayern München after managers there refused to pay him a higher salary. The amount offered by Real is equal to that of some of Munich's highest-paid players.
Kroos' contract with Real Madrid stipulated he would enjoy gross earnings of 11.3 million euros during his first season with the team and then 10.9 million euros a year from his second to sixth season.
The contract also stipulates a bonus payment to Kroos if he is one of the top three candidates for FIFA's World Player of the Year. The famous German football player and his advisor declined to comment to SPIEGEL about the revelations.
The Kroos document is only one of many that has been obtained by Football Leaks, which describes itself as having "a very good network." The whistleblower platform also recently published the amount paid by Arsenal Football Club for the transfer of another famous German soccer player, Mesut Özil (left). The group says its work is far from finished, and that massive troves of data must still be evaluated.
