With Denmark-based star Gift Links hopeful of making a return to the Bafana Bafana fold ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations, the Aarhus star is believed to be taking home a whopping salary abroad.
Just over a month remains before Africa's most prestigious tournament gets underway in the Ivory Coast. A number of stars will be licking their lips at the prospect of making their country's final squads for the event, although it might be a nervy wait for others who feel they have only an outside chance of making the trip to west Africa.
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Indeed, there have been a number of well-performing South African players this season not only locally but abroad as well. Among them are the likes of Tashreeq Matthews at IK Sirius in Sweden and Links, who has played in every game he has been available for except one. He has registered three assists in nine starts in the Danish Superliga so far this season.
While he has been influential at club level in Europe, Links has yet to receive a call-up under national team coach Hugo Broos since the Belgian took over the reins from Molefi Ntseki in May 2021. In fact, his last appearance for Bafana Bafana came in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Zimbabwe in March 2021. In the midst of that, he has played a whopping 125 matches for Aarhus, the most appearances he has made for any club in his professional career so far.
The 25-year-old's performances have not gone unnoticed by his employers as he penned a two-year extension in August, extending his stay in Denmark until 2026. According to the earnings database platform Salary Sport, Links has an annual salary of £114 400 (R2.7 million), which also translates to about R55 000 per week.
This unfortunately doesn't place him among one of the club's highest earners in the slightest, with Aarhus' best-paid player being goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell, who is on a hefty salary of £884 000 (R21 million) a year. The shot-stopper is currently a loanee at Aarhus after joining on a season-long deal from Lyle Foster's Burnley. Aarhus is also said to have a wage bill of £5 414 760 (R129 million) in 2023, which is way lower than Luton Town's £34 738 600 (R825 million), the team with the lowest wage bill in England's Premier League.
It has certainly been quite a journey for Links, who has gone from his hometown of Phokeng in Rustenburg to Denmark's second biggest city behind Copenhagen. Despite only being 25 years old, he's also one of the few South Africans who have plied their trade in the Egyptian Premier League, having represented Pyramids FC back in 2018 before returning for a short spell at Cape Town City.
That spell in the Mother City would not last long, however, as he was immediately snapped up by Aarhus after just one season for what was a club-record fee departure for the Citizens at the time. The Danish outfit splashed a sizeable €800 000 (R16.2 million) to sign the attacker, per Transfermarkt.
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It remains unclear whether or not he has a genuine shot of making Bafana's AFCON 2023 squad, with the preliminary team having not been named yet. However, should his brilliant displays continue – he picked up the Man of the Match award for Aarhus' 2-0 win over Brondby in the Danish Cup on Thursday – Broos may be left with no choice but to consider Links' inclusion for the trip to the Ivory Coast in January.
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