Do the teams that spend the most money on player salaries perform the best? Not necessarily, if last year’s K League is any indication.
According to the 2023 player salary expenditures of the 12 K League 1 and 12 K League 2 clubs (excluding Gimcheon Commerce) released by the Korea Professional Football Association on April 4, the Pohang Steelers, Gwangju FC, and Gimpo FC performed well in terms of the amount of money spent on player salaries.
Gwangju spent 5.9 billion won ($5.957 billion) on labor costs for 31.9 players last year, the lowest among the 12 K League 1 clubs.
While this is less than one-third of the amount spent by Jeonbuk (48.5 players, KRW 19.867 billion), the club finished third in the league, ahead of Jeonbuk (fourth).
Pohang was fourth from the back, paying 36.5 players 9.43 billion won ($9.257 billion).
They finished second. Gimpo FC, which finished third in the second-tier K League 2, also had the second-lowest labor costs in the league, at just 2.6 billion won.
Experts attributed the high “cost-performance ratio” of Gwangju and Pohang to the leadership of the coaching staff, including the head coach, and a systematic player development system.
Commentator Kim Dae-gil said, “It’s not common for a club that spends less money to perform well.
Kim Ki-dong, Lee Jung-hyo, and other coaches were very good at controlling the team.”
“In the case of Pohang, the youth system is so good that players such as Ko Young-joon, who were brought up from the youth team, were able to do their job quickly,” he added.
“In the case of Jeonbuk, there were many players with long careers and high salaries, but there was a problem that their skills deteriorated as they gradually entered their twilight years.
In addition, coaches such as Kim Sang-sik and Petrescu had limited leadership skills and were replaced in the middle of the season, and they were unable to properly organize name players,” said Lim Hyung-cheol.
The total annual salary of the 24 clubs in the K League 1 and 2 combined was 18.54 billion won, up 8.8 percent from 17.05 billion won in 2022. ” 카지노사이트777
The increase in the limit for foreign players in the K League 1 is largely responsible for the total amount of their salaries,” explained a K League official.
The average per capita salary was 295.45 million won in the K League 1, up 4.72 percent from 2022, but fell 11.2 percent to 185.4 million won in the K League 2.
Kim Young-kwon (Ulsan) earned the most among domestic players at 1.53 billion won, while Se Jing-ya (Daegu – 1.55 billion won) earned the most among foreign players.
Commentator Kim said, “As more Korean players enter overseas leagues, the trend of increasing player salaries is likely to continue.
This is positive because it provides a good stimulus for youth players.”
