Sunderland AFC: Enzo Le Fee's estimated Roma wage that Dan Neil may now be interested in | OneFootball

The Sunderland midfielder has been linked with a move to the parent club of their star-studded loanee

Sunderland supporters have become accustomed to some of the club's finest talents being linked with some of English and European football's top clubs, with such a trend showing no signs of slowing down either.

The standout departure in recent times from the Stadium of Light goes to Jack Clarke, who excelled in Red and White before making the switch to Ipswich Town last summer for a reported fee which could rise as high as £20m.

Unsurprisingly, starlets such as Jobe Bellingham and Chris Rigg continue to be linked with the likes of Manchester United as Ruben Amorim maps out the beginning of his major rebuilding job at Old Trafford.

It has also been reported by Football Insider that fellow midfielder, Dan Neil, has emerged as a target for Serie A giants, AS Roma, amid strong interest from West Ham, who are also said to be targeting as many as five Black Cats players, including the aforementioned Bellingham and Rigg.

Of course, the club from the Italian capital recently partook in transfer negotiations with Regis Le Bris' side, as Sunderland pulled off what was deemed as one of the signings of the window in the Championship, securing a loan deal for French playmaker, Enzo Le Fee.

The 25-year-old moved to Wearside on a temporary basis just six months after moving to the Stadio Olimpico in a €23m switch from Rennes, with the second tier club reportedly striking a loan-to-buy agreement of the same figure if they return to the Premier League.

Despite the fact Le Fee hasn't had the impact he would've envisaged in the North East just yet amid injury problems, his involvement with the club is where Roma officials were able to catch a glimpse of Neil's own ability.

Regardless, the former Lorient man is still on an astronomical estimated wage compared to his counterparts, and the aforementioned Neil may be setting his sights on a major hike if interest from Claudio Ranieri's side intensifies.

Enzo Le Fee's AS Roma wage in 2024/25 amid temporary Sunderland switch

According to ESTIMATED figures from Capology, the aforementioned Le Fee, who has featured just eight times for Sunderland thus far, is said to be collecting a weekly salary of £67,500.

Unsurprisingly, this makes the 'Giallorossi' loanee the highest-paid player on Kyril Louis-Dreyfus' payroll, earning almost twice as much as AFC Bournemouth loanee, Chris Mepham, and £42,500 per-week above the highest earner who is permanently contracted to the club in the form of Dan Ballard.

If Le Fee's current wage were to be compared to those plying their trade for the Serie A club, the former French youth international would be the seventh-highest earner after converting his wage to an estimated €81,007, behind the likes of Stephan El Shaarawy, but still collecting a salary which is in excess of the average weekly figure across the squad - €59,485.

Dan Neil would hope for a major wage hike if AS Roma move materialised

Despite becoming a key figure in Sunderland's engine room under a plethora of managers, which has attracted interest from numerous top-level sides, the 23-year-old is still said to be the club's lowest earner, with a weekly salary of just £1,436.

Neil signed his most-recent deal on Wearside back in March 2023 as the club eventually gatecrashed the play-off scene in the Championship just 12 months after earning promotion from League One against Wycombe Wanderers at Wembley Stadium.

Sports Illustrated claim that the boyhood Sunderland fan could be sold for a figure of £15m, with the aforementioned deal expiring in 2026, with it recently being confirmed that talks with Neil and Dennis Cirkin over fresh terms would commence at the end of the season to avoid distractions in the club's promotion bid, after failing to reach a prior agreement.

If Neil was to sign similar terms with the historic Italian side, he would also be the club's lowest earner, despite the fact Roma's wage bill is extremely bloated at present.

To provide some context, Ranieri's three most-established central midfielders - Bryan Cristante, Manu Kone and Leandro Paredes - are all earning in excess of Le Fee's aforementioned salary, whilst Lucas Gourna-Douath and 20-year-old Nicollo Pisilli - who has made over 30 appearances in all competitions - take up less than 0.6% of the club's weekly payroll.