Raheem Sterling had his ‘payslip’ leaked after ‘leaving in his car at a garage

Raheem Sterling once allegedly had his 'payslip' 'leaked' online to give insight into just how much top-level footballers are paid.

It's common knowledge that football is an extremely well-paid profession, particularly when playing in the biggest leagues.

Salary figures often emerge in the media, while some leagues even release the official numbers for everyone to see.

But there have been instances where it appears as though payslips have been leaked and it seemingly happened to Sterling back in 2019.

The England winger was playing for Manchester City at the time and sitting as one of the club's top earners.

It was speculated that Sterling's slip was left in his car when taking it to the garage and someone stumbled across it before posting it online.

The document showed Sterling’s basic pay and loyalty bonus, as well as monumental tax bill of £5.4 million that he would be required to pay.

It should be noted that there is no confirmation that the slip is legitimate and it's possible that it was doctored in some way.

Sterling played 339 times for City and scored 131 goals, winning four Premier League titles, five League Cups, one FA Cup and one Community Shield.

He left for Chelsea in a £47.5 million switch in 2022, where he has played 78 times and scored 17 goals.

Chelsea finished in lowly 12th last season and are currently ninth this term despite a mammoth spending spree.

Sterling has fallen out of favour under Mauricio Pochettino and Darren Bent believes he may have to drop down for first-team football if he decides to move in the summer.

“He might be there for a while, but I still think there are a number of teams in the Premier League that would take him,” Bent said on talkSPORT.

“He’s not going to go to Arsenal or Liverpool – he was there – he’s not going to City – he was there, I’m not even sure [Aston] Villa would take him.

“West Ham would take him I think, but then they’ve got [Mohammed] Kudus and [Jarrod] Bowen.

“So I’m looking, where does he start? What level does he go in and start straight away?"