This is how much Bundesliga players earn

Last April, Marie-Louise Eta was promoted to become interim coach of Union Berlin, making her the first female head coach of a men's team in the Bundesliga. She is now working in women's football again. After the 35-year-old saved the Köpenick team from relegation, she took over the club's women's team and is expected to lead the Iron Men into the top third of the table.

On Wednesday evening she was a guest in the capital on the live podcast “Flatterball” by ex-professionals Max Kruse and Martin Harnik. In the relaxed group, Eta chatted about, among other things, the salary differences compared to men. The former professional player gave concrete numbers. “In my time there were still many players who played football on a mini-job basis,” she said. “Now I think you have an average gross salary of 5,000 or 6,000 euros per month.”

Nobody has ever spoken so openly about pay in the women's Bundesliga. For comparison: Kruse makes no secret of his merits. In 2019 he moved to Fenerbahçe Istanbul, where he said he earned 300,000 euros net per month. He then went to Union with 125,000 gross before Kruse moved back to Wolfsburg, where he received 300,000 gross (month). “And then to Paderborn, that was 30,000 gross,” said the ex-national player.

Eta sees a positive salary development in women's football. "Many players can now make a living from it, are professionals. And I think it's much more important that we also work on the framework conditions and the structures. And then of course also increase the quality," she said. "Now we can't just start at the top and push the first women's Bundesliga, we also have to look at coaching qualifications, youth work and the promotion of young talent. So that this gap doesn't get too big."

Does she actually dream of a return to men's football? "In football, it's always hard to say what's going to happen. What the future will bring remains to be seen," replied Eta. In other words: a comeback in the men's sector is not out of the question. At the moment she feels very comfortable with the Union women. She is currently not thinking about a change.