SEOUL-- Former MVP-winning midfielder Kim Bo-kyung was the highest-paid homegrown player in South Korean football for the second straight season in 2021, data showed Friday.
The Korea Professional Football League (K League) released payroll numbers for all 12 teams in the top-flight K League 1 and nine out of 10 clubs in the K League 2, except for the military club Sangju Sangmu.
In the K League 1, teams spent a total of 107.4 billion won (US$90.3 million) in player salaries, up from 95.2 billion won in 2020.
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, the five-time reigning champions, had the highest payroll at 17.8 billion won. They also led the league in this category last year at 16.9 billion won.
Ulsan Hyundai FC, runners-up to Jeonbuk in the league tables, also finished second in payroll with 14.7 billion won.
The average salary for K League 1 players came to 248.6 million won. And for the second straight year, Kim, the 2019 league MVP, led all players in salary with 1.3 billion won. He was followed by Ulsan midfielder Lee Chung-yong (1.29 billion won) and Jeonbuk defender Hong Jeong-ho (1.26 billion won).
Among foreign players, Daegu FC midfielder Cesinha made the most money at 1.49 billion won.
K League 2 clubs had a combined payroll of 37.9 billion won, with an average salary of 122.3 million won per player.
Source: Yonhap News Agency