Transfer time again and we get the chance to hear about the lucrative contracts of top flight footballers. This carnival of greed feeds on the clubs’ desperation to stay in the top division as inequality in the distribution of footballing wealth means that to drop a division can be catastrophic. One of the biggest burdens on a relegated club will be the wages – and many players bought in panic in January will be hanging round the relegated clubs like a bad smell come August, doing fuck all but still taking home a huge wage.

Those who defend the current wage structure argue that the players are entertainers, who have a few short years to maximise their earning potential and they should not have to rely on running a pub after their retirement. Why not? Everyone else has to work into their sixties – and if the government gets its way…