As much as fans would like to think otherwise, modern elite football is unashamedly focused on hard and often dirty cash.
With transfer fees rising exponentially, player salaries skyrocketing and lucrative brand deals reaching new peaks, exorbitant sums of money are now the beating black heart of the beautiful game.
Players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé are, unsurprisingly, among the highest-earning players worldwide, but even mediocre football talents seem to earn a small fortune on a weekly basis these days.
Here are the players who earn the most in soccer around the world.
*All salary data courtesy of Capology.
Premier League
Rated the ‘best league in the world’, logic would suggest that the Premier League also boasts the highest revenue. That’s not strictly true today, although the English top flight has the highest average salary of any European league, second only to the Saudi Pro League.
Given their exceptional wealth, it is no surprise that Manchester City have the highest-paid player in the division in their squad. That is Kevin De Bruyne (465,320 euros p/p), whose incredible quality justifiably distinguishes him from the rest of the Premier League, although he is closely followed by his ruthless teammate Erling Haaland (436,237.50 euros p/p).
Incredibly, given their recent updates, the Manchester United duo of Casemiro (407,155 euros p/p) and Raphael Varane (395,522 euros p/p) are among the five highest earners in the Premier League, while Mohamed Salah Liverpool is in third place with a weekly salary of 407,155 euros.
The league
LaLiga often boasted the highest salaries in world football during the days when Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar represented the division, but salaries are not as high now. That said, there are still some opulent footballers in the Spanish top flight.
The one who earns the most in Spain is the Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong, who earns 721,246 euros a week in Catalonia. The club’s financial situation makes paying the Dutch international such sums a major issue and is one of the reasons why he is often linked with a departure from Barca in every transfer window.
Barça also has the second best payment: Robert Lewandowski (522,321.70 euros p/w), another talented star who represents a large part of his wage bill, but it is Real Madrid who make up the rest of the top five.
Real Madrid veterans have been rewarded for their years of service: Toni Kroos earns 469,973.20 euros per week and Luka modric earns 421,114.60 euros per week. To the defender David Alaba He is also doing quite well, earning 433,910.90 euros a week.
Bundesliga
As expected, he is the captain of England, Harry Kane, who leads the Bundesliga. The acquisition of the former Tottenham striker was seen as a major coup for German football, with the prolific center forward rewarded with a salary of €481,606.20 every seven days.
In reality, Bayern Munich employs the 11 highest-earning players in the German top flight, being the club’s legends. Manuel Neuer (404,828.40 euros p/p) and Thomas muller (404,828.40 euros p/p) those closest to Kane.
It’s a pretty significant drop for the highest-paid player not wearing the red and white of Bayern, being the Borussia Dortmund striker. Sebastian Haller (211,720.60 euros p/w) the main money generator outside of Munich.
A series
Serie A once boasted some of the world’s elite stars and richest footballers, but those years are long gone. He says a lot that the Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic earn more than any other player in Italy (250,109.50 euros), closely followed by the Napoli star Victor Osimhen (246,619.60 euros), although it is likely that he will leave the league this summer.
Both Juventus and Inter dominate Serie A when it comes to finances, being Osimhen the only player who does not play for those clubs among the ten highest earners in the league. Wojciech Szczesny (231,496.70 euros p/p) and Alex Sandro (214,047.20 euros p/p) are surprisingly the third and fourth highest paid stars in the division.
Ligue 1
It’s not hard to guess who earns the most in Ligue 1, although it’s highly unlikely they’ll be making a living in France next season. It is, of course, Kylian Mbappé who we are referring to, as the Paris Saint-Germain superstar takes home a staggering €1,185,402.70 million every week. That’s before even considering his endorsement deals and performance bonuses.
It is a big drop to the second highest paid player in Ligue 1, Ousmane Dembelewith the former Barcelona star earning a comparatively €385,052.30 per week. Lucas Hernandez is not far behind, taking home approximately 18,612.80 euros less than Dembele weekly.
You have to search up to the 14th player who earns the most in Ligue 1 to find a player who does not play for PSG, with the sniper Wissam Ben Yedder of Monaco earning 150,065.70 euros every week. To put it in context, Mbappe He earns nine times more than him.
Mbappé’s salaries seem quite pathetic compared to some of the highest-paid professionals in modern football’s new financial powerhouse: the Saudi Pro League. As you may have assumed, Ronaldo He earns more than any other player in world football at Al Nassr, with a weekly salary of 3,525,962.30 million euros. That’s just crazy.
A little further back they are Neymarfrom Al Hilal, and Karim Benzemafrom Al Ittihad (1,240,077.80 million euros each), while even Riyad Mahrez He is better paid than any other footballer in Europe, except Mbappé, who earns 1,006,254.50 euros every seven days.
There are some players who earn a lot in Major League Soccer in the United States, but they are nowhere near the levels of the Saudi Pro League. Messian eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, is the top moneymaker in North America, but his salary of 215,210.50 pales in comparison to his old nemesis Ronaldo.
This is where things get even more complicated, as footballers, like most athletes, earn large sums for their activities both off and on the field. However, thanks to Forbeswe can see some of the highest earners off the field in world football.
Ronaldo and Messi lead the way when it comes to this particular category, with the Argentine overcoming this financial battle by earning €6,514,480.00 million per year off the field, on top of his base salary. On the contrary, its Portuguese rival takes home around 55,838,400.00 million euros annually.
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