(1) At a high level, yes, they look at it. There is a very strong relation between winning and team pay in soccer. There is a reason why Real Madrid has won 4 out of the last 5 champions leagues. Similarly, PSG and Munich are by some distance the best paid teams in their leagues and win their respective leagues pretty much every year. This market today is quite efficient, sure there are always going to be some undervalued middling players here and there, but the very best players do not go unnoticed and so they are paid well and bought by the richest teams.
(2) the discussion is naturally about how much they earn for their clubs presently. National teams pay no salary and many top players do not, and in some cases, have never played in their birth country's own league.