Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner has said he deserves his £50,000-a-week salary because he has to make big sacrifices as a player - such as giving up skiing.
The Danish striker said that he has to pay "a big price with my body, my time and with never being able to have privacy" as a footballer and that the one thing he misses most of all is hitting the ski slopes.
"The biggest thing I miss because of football is that I really, really love to go on a skiing holiday but as long as I have my career, I can’t do that because of the risk of being injured," he said.
The 23-year-old, who said last season that he thinks he is "one of the best strikers in the world," said that his job should be compared to that of an actor.
"It is difficult to compare a footballer’s wage to the wage of a bank manager or the manager of a large company.
"They are without a doubt putting a lot into their jobs and they are important to other people’s lives as well, but my line of work is different to that.
"I am in the football business and, on the highest level where Arsenal are, football is first-class entertainment. So it is wrong to compare my salary to the salary of businessmen. Compare it to movie actors instead."
Bendtner, who has struggled to hold down a regular place in the Arsenal team in recent seasons, admits he enjoys the financial perks of being a player.
"I would lie if I said that I didn’t enjoy the money I earn in football. It’s always fair to ask whether players are worth the incredible amounts of money we earn and ask whether we earn too much.
"Somehow I believe that we must be worth our salaries because that is how the mechanism of society works. As long as I work as hard as I can, I believe I am worth what is coming my way.
"We spend an incredible amount of time, energy and focus on our football career. When we are not training or playing matches, we still have to live for football."
Bendtner was speaking in Copenhagen where he is with the Denmark team ahead of their friendly match against England on Wednesday night.
In his homeland he has been front page news recently after a high-profile relationship split with a baroness, Caroline Luel-Brockdorff, only seven weeks after the birth of their child.
The Danish striker said that he has to pay "a big price with my body, my time and with never being able to have privacy" as a footballer and that the one thing he misses most of all is hitting the ski slopes.
"The biggest thing I miss because of football is that I really, really love to go on a skiing holiday but as long as I have my career, I can’t do that because of the risk of being injured," he said.
The 23-year-old, who said last season that he thinks he is "one of the best strikers in the world," said that his job should be compared to that of an actor.
"It is difficult to compare a footballer’s wage to the wage of a bank manager or the manager of a large company.
"They are without a doubt putting a lot into their jobs and they are important to other people’s lives as well, but my line of work is different to that.
"I am in the football business and, on the highest level where Arsenal are, football is first-class entertainment. So it is wrong to compare my salary to the salary of businessmen. Compare it to movie actors instead."
Bendtner, who has struggled to hold down a regular place in the Arsenal team in recent seasons, admits he enjoys the financial perks of being a player.
"I would lie if I said that I didn’t enjoy the money I earn in football. It’s always fair to ask whether players are worth the incredible amounts of money we earn and ask whether we earn too much.
"Somehow I believe that we must be worth our salaries because that is how the mechanism of society works. As long as I work as hard as I can, I believe I am worth what is coming my way.
"We spend an incredible amount of time, energy and focus on our football career. When we are not training or playing matches, we still have to live for football."
Bendtner was speaking in Copenhagen where he is with the Denmark team ahead of their friendly match against England on Wednesday night.
In his homeland he has been front page news recently after a high-profile relationship split with a baroness, Caroline Luel-Brockdorff, only seven weeks after the birth of their child.
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