As net pay decreases, so will top European talent

In order to pull the UK back from the brink of financial apocalypse, Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling has revealed some risky plans in his pre-budget report. One bail out strategy is to introduce a new tax band of 45 per cent on earnings over £150,000 from 2011. This seems like a perfectly reasonable method of keeping the economy afloat, but it could have an adverse effect on the Premiership.

Cristiano Ronaldo currently earns a gross of £6.24m per year, on which he pays 40 per cent on earnings after £37,400 (which is only around two days work for him!). Under the new plans, he will pay an extra £304,500, roughly the cost of