As football continues to be the most popular sport on the planet, there will always be a market for it.
And where there is a global market for something, there will always be money.
The arguments of money ruining football may be compelling, and everyone will have a different view, but in some cases, the blame lies with the clubs themselves.
Players and their agents will always be considered greedy. Sponsorship will continue and probably grow. More clubs will go out of existence.
The days of lower league teams producing talent to be sold on to clubs in the top flight seem few and far between now.
Promising young players are picked up by the scouting networks of the big teams, thus depriving smaller clubs of a source of income they once relied heavily on.
Footballers earn a ridiculous amount of money, but again, this is in step with the way the game has gone economically.
If the game was in the same financial state it was in twenty years ago, players would still be earning what would be considered ludicrous money.
Does it really make a difference to the man on the street if a player employed by Chelsea makes £25,000 per week, or £125,000 a week? Either way, the player will make more in a month than the average person will in a couple of years, or even a lifetime.
Football has never been more accessible than it is now. Numerous channels broadcast games from across the world, the matches they show reaching billions of people.
The internet has seen the advent of a multitude of football-related websites, broadcasting opinions, match reports, and match highlights.
The Ghana Report takes a dive into the highest-paid footballers in the world up to date, 2023.
- Cristiano Ronaldo
Number one on the list is no other than the 5-time balon d’Or winner and the all-time Madrid top scorer.
The Portuguese superstar earns about $214m a year with approximately $4.1 million (£3.4m) a week.
On 30 December 2022, Saudi club Al Nassr reached an agreement for Ronaldo to join the club effective 1 January 2023, signing a contract until 2025.
As reported by Fabrizio Romano of The Guardian, Ronaldo received the highest football salary in history, worth €200 million per year; this included an annual guaranteed football salary of €90 million, with commercial and sponsorship deals included, bringing his total annual salary to €200 million.
2. Kylian Mbappe
Kylian Mbappé, born 20 December 1998 is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the France national team.
Regarded as one of the best players in the world, he is renowned for his dribbling abilities, exceptional speed, and finishing.
At 24, Mbappe became the all-time PSG top goalscorer following a 4–2 win over Nantes, Mbappé scored his 201st PSG goal, taking the throne as the club’s leading scorer.
Following his contract extension with PSG until 2025, on 21 May 2022 despite speculations of a possible transfer to Real Madrid.
Mbappé is the most expensive player on the PSG roster, taking home over a million dollars weekly and an estimation of $62m per year. His 2022-23 salary is a team-high 19.56% of the team’s entire payroll
According to Sky Sports, the financial details of Mbappé’s contract include a weekly wage of the monthly wage of £4 million, making him the highest-paid player in the world after Christiano Ronaldo.
Mbappé and PSG also reportedly secured a signing-on figure in the region of £100 million.
3.Lionel Messi
The most Ballon d’Or award winner of all-time winning it seven times and is gunning for the 8th time this year as the world cup winner gears up for another year of football laurels.
On 10 August, Messi joined the French club Paris Saint-Germain. He signed a two-year deal until June 2023 with an option for an extra year.
Reports stated at the time of Messi’s signing at PSG in the summer of 2021 that he had agreed to a two-year contract with PSG that boasted a $41 million annual net salary, including bonuses.
His weekly salary stands at over $788,000 and an estimated $41m per year.
The contract also includes an option for a third year.
4. Neymar Jnr
On 24 May 2013, Santos announced that they had received two offers for Neymar. The following day, Neymar announced he would sign with Barcelona on 27 May 2013 and join the team after playing in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.
Neither Neymar nor the club released details on the transfer fee or personal terms, save to say he signed a five-year deal.
On August 3, 2017, Barcelona announced that Neymar’s legal representatives made a payment of €222 million to the club, equal to the release clause of his contract, which constituted the most expensive transfer ever to PSG.
The PSG star renewed his contract with Les Parisiens in 2021, extending his stay until 2025. In the summer of 2022, the 30-year-old reportedly received major interest from multiple European elite clubs including the likes of Chelsea and Juventus.
According to Footmercato, Neymar earns $36.5 million per season under his new deal with a weekly wage of $695,000
5. Oscar
Oscar dos Santos Emboaba Júnior is a Brazilian Portuguese born on 9 September 1991, popularly known as Oscar. He is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for the Chinese Super League club Shanghai Port.
On July 25, 2012, Chelsea announced the signing of Oscar on a five-year contract at a fee estimated at around £19 million.
On December 23, 2016, Chinese Super League side Shanghai SIPG officially confirmed that the club had agreed on terms with Chelsea for the transfer of Oscar, to be completed during the January transfer window for a reported £67 million.
The fee represented an Asian transfer record. Oscar was reported to have signed a four-year contract with a weekly salary of £400,000, equivalent to an annual salary of £20.8 million (US$26.5 million).
Currently, Oscar earns £540,000 per week, $34m per year playing for Shanghai SIPG as an attacking midfielder.
6. Eden Hazard
Eden Hazard born on January 7 1991 is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid.
Known for his creativity, dribbling, passing, and vision, Hazard is considered one of the best players of his generation.
On June 4, 2012, Chelsea officially announced the transfer of the player from Lille for a transfer fee reported to be priced at £32 million.
On June 7, 2019, Real Madrid announced the signing of Hazard. He signed a contract until 30 June 2024 for a reported fee of €100 million, which could rise to €146.1 million due to additional fees, on a deal worth £400,000 per week. Hazard became Madrid’s most expensive player after Gareth Bale, who was signed for €101 million in 2013.
Hazard was on a £200k-a-week salary at Chelsea but he got a big boost to his wage packet. The Belgian superstar earned €461.538-a-week in 2022. The 31-year-old is believed to earn a gross salary of about $33.7 million per year, €2 million every month, €65.753 just for his day work, and €2.740 in an hour, as per BolaVip.
He might be fallen out of favor with Madrid’s current coach, Carlo Ancelotti but he stands tall in the pecking order when it comes to salaries.
7.Andres Iniesta
Andrés Iniesta born 11 May 1984 is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder and is the captain of the Japan league club Vissel Kobe.
Considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Iniesta has spent most of his career at Barcelona, where he served as the captain for three seasons.
In May 2021, the 37-year-old signed a two-year extension with the J-League team that pays him £452,675 per week and an estimated$30 million annually through to 2024.
8. Kevin De Bruyne
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Kevin De Bruyne is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Manchester City and captains the Belgium national team.
He is widely regarded as one of the best players in the world. Pundits have often described him as a “complete footballer”.
In 2021, the Belgian midfielder signed a 5-year extension with Manchester City making him one of the most-paid players in the world. He reportedly earns $483,032 a week with an estimated $25m per year.
9. David De Gea
David de Gea plays as a goalkeeper for the Premier League club Manchester United and the Spain national team. He is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
De Gea signed his last contract extension back in 2019, making him the best-paid goalkeeper in England. For a time he was the best-paid player in the Premier League but has since fallen to second with a reported salary of £375,000 per week and an estimated $24.3m a year.
10. Erling Haaland
Erling Braut Haaland is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Manchester City and the Norway national team.
Considered one of the best players in the world, he is known for his speed, strength, and finishing inside the box.
The bonuses in Haaland’s contract make him one of the Premier League’s highest-paid players around £356,000 per week with an estimated amount of $23.5m a year.
While Haaland’s basic wage reportedly earns him a similar wage to Manchester City’s other highest-earners, the bonuses in his contract hand him an eye-watering pay packet. Some of those bonuses revolve around goals.
11. Mohammed Salah
Mohamed Salah was finally made Liverpool’s highest-paid player in the summer of 2022.
The Liverpool star signed his own bumper contract in the summer, committing his future to Liverpool.
The attacker is now the highest-paid player at Anfield after long negotiations finally resulted in a deal being reached.
The departure of Sadio Mane and the waning influence of Roberto Firmino meant that the Reds could afford to bump up Salah’s pay.
Reports indicate that he earns £350,000 per week and an estimated $22.3m a year.
12. Jadon Sancho
Jadon Malik Sancho, born 25 March 2000 is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Manchester United and the England national team.
Considered one of the best young players in the world, he is known for his trickery, game intelligence and use of feints in one-on-one situations.
The winger’s weekly wage is reported as £327,750 and an estimated $22.6m per year.
13. Sadio Mane
Sadio Mane moved to Bayern Munich to earn a bumper pay rise.
After realising that Liverpool would not be handing him the pay rise that he wanted, Sadio Mane decided to depart Anfield.
He pushed through a move to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich in the summer window.
Bayern chose to make him their highest-paid player, with Mane taking over from Robert Lewandowski as their main man. The £315,000 per week he now earns is a major bump from the wages he was on at Liverpool, according to the Radio Times with an estimation of $22.1m per year.