Ex-Man City star reveals details about how pro footballers are paid 'that most people wouldn't know'

A former Premier League player says "most people" don't know how professional footballers are paid.

Nedum Onuoha, who made 188 appearances in the Premier League, started his career at Manchester City before enjoying spells at Sunderland, Queens Park Rangers and Real Salt Lake.

The former England under-21 international memorably spent the first part of the 2011/12 campaign at the Etihad before joining a struggling QPR in the January transfer window.

Onuoha would eventually help Mark Hughes' side avoid relegation by the narrowest of margins as he watched his boyhood club lift their first league title thanks to a dramatic last-minute winner from Sergio Aguero.

More than a decade on and the defender has become a respected pundit, with his latest appearance coming on James Allcott's YouTube channel.

Onuoha joined QPR after his spell at Man City. Image credit: Getty

Here, the 38-year-old touched on a number of subjects, including the use of drugs in football, what fights he witnessed in training and whether footballers ignore the managers' tactics.

Onuoha also dispelled a myth around professional footballers and their wage.

Asked if footballers get paid weekly or monthly, the former defender replied: "Once a month. It's weird that it gets talked about weekly."

He added: "To be fair, even the way contracts are discussed now, it's in terms of everything - whether that be bonuses and costs throughout the year. Most people don't know that, but we don't get paid every week."

Onuoha went on to explain why speaking about money to teammates is a "taboo" subject.

"It doesn't necessarily give you social clout," he added on the podcast. "Salah at Liverpool, everyone knows he's on the most money. Who is he going to talk to about how much money he's earning?"

Last year, Onuoha revealed that he refused to time-waste before Manchester City scored their famous title-winning goal in 2012 as he felt it would have been "disrespectful".

Speaking on the FILTHYFELLAS podcast, he recalled Edin Dzeko's equaliser in the dying moments, as well as the throw-in that sparked a crucial City counter-attack.

"I'll be honest. True confessions. They won 3-2 and two of the goals were my fault," he said.

"I'm gonna have to be completely honest about this. The game is whatever, it's going how it's going and somehow we're winning but we're down to 10 players because someone decided to get themselves sent off in the biggest game of the season.

"In the 92nd minute. I'm cooked. The rest of us are cooked. The corner comes in and they've made a lot of changes. I'm supposed to be marking [Edin] Dzeko. I tried to jump but I couldn't jump. Dzeko is top in the air. So he scores and it's 2-2 and I'm thinking, 'That was definitely my fault'."

Onuoha continued: "It then gets kicked out and I'm playing right back, so it's me to take the throw-in, but this is my first time going to play against City. I remember as a kid being in that stadium when it first opened, when City played Barcelona in a pre-season game. I remember looking down thinking, 'I'd love to play on that pitch one day'.

"I remember going to Maine Road and loving that. And here I was, now playing against them, for the first time. I didn't know how to deal with it. I couldn't time waste. It felt disrespectful. So I ran to get the ball.

"When I got there, I was looking Jay Bothroyd straight in the face. I said to him, 'Go down the line' and I threw it down the line, but Jay never went. So now City have got the ball. And I'm running back thinking, 'Well, if they score, this is my fault.'

"I was thinking, 'Please come my side so I can try and do something' but it never came to my side.' At the other side I'm watching and it's like a horror movie. Then I see the ball go in. And I'm like, 'Oh my god'."