By 
IN THE EXCEEDINGLY unlikely case that you’re blissfully unaware of how much footballers make, allow us to make it crystal clear: a lot.
Few occupations pay more than football, which is hardly surprising. Firmly entrenched as the world’s most popular sport, football reels in big money. Large-scale international tournaments like the FIFA world cup, UEFA Euros and Copa América only come around every four years ago, but when they do, countless fans, advertisement budgets and television revenue follow. Inevitably, some of that money trickles down to the people who make the business possible – the players.
Football players have always been well paid. It’s only recently that they’ve transcended their on-field roles to become full-scale celebrities, playboys and the faces of global brands – which of course, has only added to their exorbitant salaries. The expansion of domestic leagues outside of football’s traditional European stronghold has also led to an uptick in pay packages, with the USA, China and the Middle East emerging as new sources of footballing wealth.
With the 2023-24 season coming to an end, players on the move and international tournaments in full swing, we figured its time we nail down exactly who the ten highest paid footballers are. So, read on and find out.
All figures have been converted to AUD and are accurate as of June 20th.
Which footballers have the highest salaries?
10. Harry Kane
Salary: $34.8 million
There are two opposing views you can take on Harry Kane’s switch from Tottenham to Bayern Munich at the start of this season. If you consider that Kane left Tottenham to win the first trophy of his career with a team that had won the Bundesliga 11 years running, only to end the season with zero, courtesy of an invincible Bayer Leverkusen, then Kane’s year was a catastrophic failure. But once you understand that the move made him one of the highest paid players in his sport, it doesn’t seem so bad.
9. Kalidou Koulibaly
Salary: $41.2 million
Now here’s a name you probably didn’t expect to see on this list, Senegalese anchor man Kalidou Koulibaly is the only defender among the top ten highest paid footballers. Despite his tenure with English giants Chelsea being deemed a consensus lowlight in his career, Koulibaly managed to land a big money move to Saudi Arabia, where Al Hilal pay him a colossal sum for a man of his position.
8. Riyad Mahrez
Salary: $62.8 million
Another beneficiary of a move away from Europe, Riyad Mahrez joined Saudi Arabian team Al-Ahli last year and hasn’t looked back. During his time in Europe, Mahrez was part of the legendary underdog story of Premier League winners Leicester City, but he also won another four Premier League titles and a Champions League trophy with Manchester City. It’s easy to see why Mahrez doesn’t mind playing in the less prestigious Saudi Pro League – he’s already won all there is to win.
7. Sadio Mané
Salary: $64.4 million
We promise there are some players on this list that don’t play in Saudi Arabia, but Sadio Mané is the third consecutive player that does. As part of Cristiano Ronaldo’s attacking strike team at Al-Nassr, Mané forms part of what is one of the most expensive squads in football. Mané is probably one of the only people in the world who earns $64 million per year and still has a co-worker who makes more. More on who that co-worker is later.
6. Erling Haaland
Salary: $72.5 million
Erling Haaland was narrowly beaten by Lionel Messi for last year’s Ballon D’Or. Whether or not he deserved to win it, we won’t get into (primarily because we’ve already had that debate here). It’s difficult to feel sorry for Haaland though. Even though he fell short of capturing football’s highest honour, he still gets to take home more than $70 million every year.
5. Lionel Messi
Salary: $100 million
After leaving Europe for Inter Miami in 2023, Messi signed a new contract worth $100 million per year – the highest salary in Major League Soccer history. Messi has turned the David Beckham-owned Inter Miami from a perennial punching bag to one of the MLS’ best clubs. Since heading stateside, it’s been apparent that Messi is a cut above his opposition. At least he’s being fairly remunerated for his skillset.
4. Kylian Mbappé
Salary: $115.9 million
Prodigal French sensation Kylian Mbappé turned down innumerable offers from Europe’s biggest clubs and wasn’t swayed by the deep pockets of Middle Eastern teams when he signed a new contract with Paris Saint-Germain in 2022. But with that contract running out after the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, Mbappé will now join Real Madrid on a free transfer. For now, the mercurial forward remains one of the highest paid footballers in the world with a nine-digit salary that won’t diminish until his new contract comes into effect in a few months’ time. Next season though, he’ll likely disappear from this list, as his new contract is reported to deliver a lower salary.
3. Karim Benzema
Salary: $162 million
After winning the Ballon D’Or in 2022, Karim Benzema decided he had accomplished all there was to accomplish in Europe. Like many others in his line of work, Benzema sought greener – and considerably better paying – pastures in Saudi Arabia. The 36-year-old joined Al-Ittihad in 2023, where he’ll likely end his career.
2. Neymar
Salary: $164 million
Neymar has benefitted greatly from the Saudi football boom, recently swapping the iconic blue tones of Paris Saint-Germain for the slightly less iconic shades of blue adopted by Al-Hilal. Neymar’s new club offered him what was, at the time, the second biggest contract in the history of his sport. But since making the move, Neymar has only made five appearances for his new club due to a series of nagging injuries. Not that they needed him. Al-Hilal went undefeated last season on their way to winning the Saudi Pro League by a wide margin.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
Salary: $330 million
While Messi may have surpassed his Portuguese counterpart in football’s GOAT debate, he can’t hold a candle to Ronaldo’s salary. Ronaldo’s move to Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr landed him the most lucrative contract in the history of sports. There isn’t much Ronaldo hasn’t done, and as a result, he can spend the rest of his life kicking back and enjoying the well-earned fruits of his labour – he certainly won’t need to worry about paying his bills.
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