Last month, Manchester City made two players the most expensive defenders in football history.

Kyle Walker joined City from Tottenham Hotspur for £50 million, and just ten days later, Benjamin Mendy (£52 million), who signed Manchester City, broke Walker's record for the highest transfer fee for a defender – a day after signing Real Madrid substitute right-back Danilo for £26.5 million.

That means in just two weeks, Manchester City have spent £128.5 million on the full-back.

All three of City's new defenders will all earn around £100,000 a week, a level of pay that is common among the richest clubs in the Premier League.

But for the players who don't play in the affluent Euroleagues, the vast majority of them live in a completely different world.

According to the International Professional Footballers' Federation (FIFPro), which represents 65,000 players worldwide, 45% of members earn less than $1,000 a month.

Former Croatia Under-23 team member Josep Wakovic is also looking for a new club this summer, but his situation is in stark contrast to City's new signings.

Wakovic was terminated by RNK Split at the end of last season and the club was demoted two levels by the Croatian Football Federation for failing to pay the player's wages.

A whopping 41 per cent of players have been owed wages. Unfortunately for Wakovic, RNK Split is not the first club to let him down.

"At the last club I played for, Istria 1961, I didn't get paid for five months in a row. "I was injured for a few months and had to pay about 10,000 euros for medical treatment in my hip. Later Istria 1961 also said that my monthly salary (4000 euros) should be reduced by 50% due to injuries. ”

Vakovic was trained at the youth level but never made it to the first team. He wants to stay in the domestic league but he also knows that there are very few clubs in Croatia that can guarantee that players are paid on time. So Vakovic is also willing to look for opportunities in foreign leagues.

"It's very unfair and I'm very nervous about my situation." "Here, the career of a footballer is precarious, but that's my life. I've made a lot of sacrifices since I became a youth player. The [Croatian] club just wants to buy and sell players and make quick money, they are not professional. They want us to be professional in everything, but they can't do it themselves. ”

Earlier, Vakovic joined Bosnia-Herzegovina league club Vitesz and he was happy to receive a monthly salary of 2,000 euros at Vitez.

Wakovic's contract with Vitez is short (until December 2017), but it's no surprise – globally, footballers have an average professional contract of just 22.6 months, less than two years.

David Law is also looking for a new club this summer, but he faces another layer of pressure compared to Wakovic: Law knows his career has begun to decline.

The 33-year-old got a late start to his career as he had to complete two years of military service in Singapore, but he still gained a wealth of experience in his career.

Over the past decade, Lao has played in many countries, including Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Switzerland (where the club went bankrupt), Hungary (who left due to unpaid wages), Germany, Italy, Thailand (who left due to unpaid wages), Iceland (who left due to restrictions on non-EU players) and even Mongolia.

Rau has just left the Cameroon league. In Cameroon, he first joined top-flight club Canon Yaoundé, although, like many previous contracts, his contract with the club only lasted four months. After his contract expired, David Law went to another Cameroonian club, Cosmos de Bafia, to also sign a short-term contract.

"When I played in the Cameroon league, some of the best players (including members of the national team) were paid between $1,000~$3,000 a month, but the vast majority of players earned less than $1,000 a month." "In Asian countries such as Malaysia and Thailand, or in Eastern Europe, there are also many clubs that have gone bankrupt or are experiencing economic instability.

"The vast majority of players choose to remain silent because they want to get their next contract. Players around the world have the illusion that they are attracted to the glamorous side of football without knowing the reality behind it. ”

Law's views on football were clearly influenced by his own tragic experience.

"Football is a very difficult and demanding profession. Fans think the profession is very glamorous, but it's not...... Contracts are not respected, and in some countries, clubs fire players. Many of the owners of football clubs are businessmen or work in the government, and some of them are corrupt. Many players are afraid to take a stand because they fear that their careers will be affected. Football associations and sports officials must respect the law and protect players. ”

"Even in Western European countries, life is very difficult for players in the lower leagues, and many of them are suffering. It's a cruel world, and only the strong can survive. The richest clubs should help the poor clubs, and the distribution of money is too uneven. Law sighed.

The inequality in football has attracted the attention of UEFA president Alexander Ceferin, who has revealed that he will consider introducing a salary cap (system) to close the gap between rich and poor football clubs.

Earlier this summer, Cheferin warned that the wealth gap between football clubs was becoming "increasingly dangerous" and that they had to do something about it.

"In the future, we will seriously consider the possibility of capping the salaries that clubs can pay for their players." "Rich clubs are only going to get richer, and the wealth gap between them and the rest of the club is going to get wider. If we succeed, I think it will be a historic change. ”

When Cheferin made the remarks, PSG had not signed Neymar for £197 million and increased his weekly salary to £520,000.

As both professionals, it's hard to understand how Wakovic and Rau feel when they know that Neymar earns more in a month than they earn in their entire career.

As Law put it: "We changed contract after contract and were very insecure. It is a very dangerous profession and the salary is never guaranteed. ”

When he received the invitation to Pippi's video, he also received an invitation from the German Professional Footballers' Union (VDV).

"I'm willing to contribute to most of the players who are struggling to make ends meet." Zhang Zhetian replied to the people of VDV.

"If you can do what you can, you have a clear conscience. Besides, making so much money, in the end, it's not about eating three meals a day, sleeping in one bed, and spending it all the time. ”