Man U's Juan Mata blasts 'silly' amount of money footballers earn, says young footballers 'think they're rockstars'

Man U player Juan Mata who earns about £150,000 per week has come out to blast young footballers and the huge amount of money being thrown at them, saying he doesn't mind reducing his salary if it means going back to the old days when football was purely for the fun of it, purely for the fans and not now that business men have commercialized football.

Spain star Mata cost £37million when he left Chelsea for United two years ago and has become the first high-profile Premier League player to voice his unease about the commercialization of a sport he adores.

'Football is very well remunerated at this level,' said the 27-year-old in an interview on Spanish TV show Salvados.

'We live in a bubble. Compared to the rest of society, we earn a ridiculous amount. It's unfathomable. With respect to the world of football, I earn a normal wage. But compared to 99.9 per cent of Spain and the rest of the world, I earn a silly amount.' 

'Every player thinks he's Diego Maradona when he joins a big club. That happens to all of us but then you notice it in the younger players. You see kids who think they're rock stars, wearing extravagant clothes and driving flash cars. Sometimes you have to take them aside and have a word.'

The Premier League's new broadcasting rights deal is worth £5.1billion and comes into effect at the end of this season. It is expected to catapult spending to another jaw-dropping level.

Representatives of Sweden's Zlatan Ibrahimovic are reported to be informing interested parties it will cost £600,000 a week to sign him from Paris Saint-Germain but Mata feels fans should be prioritized and not business men aiming to make profits.

'The business side of football makes it seem as though the owners are now more important than the fans,' said Mata.

'I don't enjoy the business side of football. I love the game. I love training and competing. 'I'd take a pay cut if there was less business involvement in the sport. At this level, we're very well paid and sometimes you start thinking there isn't much of a difference between x and x+3.'  

Source: UK Mirror