Man City duo take £17.8m hit on earnings ahead of summer transfer decisions

 A Manchester City duo have been named among the UK's biggest taxpayers as they weigh up their futures in English football. Bernardo Silva and Omar Marmoush have paid a combined £17.8m to the Inland Revenue over the past 12 months.

That is according to the recently released Sunday Times Tax List, which has named the country's highest contributors to the public purse. The football tax list was topped by another City player, Erling Haaland, who paid close to £17m, ahead of Liverpool's Mohamed Salah on £14.5m

Silva and Marmoush have also lost eye-watering sums to the taxman over the recorded period. Silva paid £9m - the same as Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes - while Marmoush coughed up £8.8m.

While Haaland's future at City looks secure, the same cannot be said of Silva and Marmoush, who could both be on the move this summer. Silva's City contract expires in months and, according to reports in Spain, the Portuguese star has already decided to leave the Etihad, with Barcelona understood to be his favoured option.

A return to childhood club Benfica has also been mooted, as has a switch to the cash-laden Saudi Pro League. As for Marmoush, who only arrived from Eintracht Frankfurt a year ago, he was linked with a move away from City in January, with Tottenham, Aston Villa and Turkish pair Fenerbahce and Galatasaray being touted as potential destinations.

While Marmoush has struggled for regular game time amid intense competition for places in Pep Guardiola's side, he has taken his chances, including scoring twice in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg win over Newcastle.

However, a departure cannot be discounted in the summer if the Egyptian feels he can secure more game time elsewhere. Again, there could be interest from Saudi Arabia, where the financial incentives are obvious.

As well as the huge salaries being paid, footballers do not pay tax on earnings in country. That is in contrast to the 45 per cent rate applied in the UK on annual salaries exceeding £125,000.

Former City winger Raheem Sterling, who recently terminated his Chelsea contract by mutual consent, contributed £9.8m in tax, £100,000 more than Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk.

The overall tax list was topped by bookmakers Betfred, who contributed £400m to the public purse. The likes of Harry Styles (£24.7m), Ed Sheeran (£19.9m) and Anthony Joshua (£11m) joined Haaland and Salah in the top 100.