Lucy Bronze claims 99.9% of female players couldn't retire and live off their salaries

England and Chelsea star Lucy Bronze has revealed that 99.9% of female footballers will not be able to retire and live off their current salaries.

33-year-old Bronze is one of the finest players in England history having played for the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City, Lyon and Barcelona before moving to Chelsea in the summer.

On the international stage, Bronze has been capped 126 times by England and was part of the squad that won the Euros in 2022.

Speaking ahead of Sunday's Women's Super League clash between Chelsea and Liverpool, Bronze spoke about how female players can't live off their current wages.

When asked if women players can afford to retire, Bronze said to Sky: "The 1% probably can. If you're smart with your money and live a certain kind of lifestyle, then there's potential.

"I don't live a crazy lifestyle with crazy cars or houses. So I could retire and live on my investments. I've been smart with my money, I've paid off student loans throughout my career."

She added: "I know I've been successful in teams with a lot of money… I'm probably in that top per cent.

"Probably 99.9% of women's players… you have to think about life after football."

Bronze then spoke about how winning the Euros has impacted her life on and off the pitch.

She said: "I didn't have to go from 0 to 100 overnight. I had a steady buildup throughout my career. Winning the Euros - it changed things, but I'd already had that experience."

Bronze was also part of the Lionesses squad which lost 1-0 to Spain in last year's World Cup final.

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Playing for Barcelona at the time, Bronze touched on having to return to Spain after the heartbreaking defeat in Australia.

The defender said: "The first two days [there] was a bit of awkwardness in the air… walking into a Spanish club.

"It was difficult going back to Spain. When we left Australia, we had a week off then. To go back to Barcelona… walking in and getting commiserations while the person in front of us and the person behind us was getting celebrated for winning the World Cup [was hard]."