Top 20 highest paid footballers in the world

The figures are unreal with some shocking names in the list.

France Football recently published its annual list of the highest earning players in the world of football. The list takes into account the base salaries, bonuses, earnings from image rights and endorsements and possible lines of businesses. 

20. Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)

The Real Madrid skipper is the only other defender in this list barring his former national teammate Gerard Pique who is ranked 9 spots higher. Ramos makes £200,000 weekly and along with Marcelo, Kroos is the second highest paid player in the club after Welsh Wizard Gareth Bale.

Ramos also endorses various products for companies like Nike, Hugo Boss, Pepsi and Gatorade and the cumulative money from endorsements, image rights, salary amounts to €23 million annually.

19. Paul Pogba (Manchester United)

Ever since he burst on to the scene with Juventus, Pogba has been one of the most sought after players in the world. In 2016, Manchester United made him the then most expensive transfer in history when Pogba chose to return to his former club for €105 million.

He would have been way up in the list, but Brexit is causing him to lose money

The 26-year-old who won the World Cup with France this year is one of the most marketable players in the world and receives a basic salary of £290,000 per week at United. Pogba signed a 10-year deal with Adidas worth a staggering £31 million and he is believed to be making €23.3 million annually.

18. Hulk Paraíba (Shanghai SIPG)

Hulk swapped Zenit St. Petersburg for Shanghai SIPG for an Asian record of €58.6 million in 2016. The heavy investment in Asian football would see many top talents being attracted to the east. Hulk, reportedly makes £320,000 weekly which accumulates to £16.6 million a year. Everything included, his earnings are estimated to be €23.4 million.

17. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)

Manchester City has been receiving immense financial backing ever since its takeover in 2008. This allowed them to pursue the likes of Kevin de Bruyne who was bought from Wolfsburg for £54 million in 2015 and in early 2018, he committed to a new contract which will keep him at City until 2023.

The new contract sees him earning £280,000 with bonuses and image rights and the figure could well be as much as £18 million on an annual basis. This combined with deals from endorsements sees Kevin making €23.5 million a year.

15. Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)

Sergio Aguero who has spent a decade at City, having established himself as one of the, if not the most important player in City’s history also receives big bucks. Aguero makes £230,000 weekly and is the highest paid player in Manchester City along with Kevin de Bruyne.

According to Forbes, Aguero made €6.5 million euros in endorsements and is the face of Puma.

15. Oscar (Shanghai SIPG)

Joining former national teammate Hulk at Shanghai for £60 million, Oscar made headlines by refusing the appeal of European football for lucrative offers in China. His relatively young age made him an easy criticism bait but Oscar will not mind it too much considering the heavy paycheck he gets paid with- he makes a jaw-dropping £400,000 weekly!

Once the hot property of Europe, now the star boy and one of the highest paid footballers in China

14. Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint Germain)

Reaching adulthood last year, Kylian Mbappe is by far the youngest player on the list. Kylian had taken the world by storm as a 19-year-old having already had a world-class season with Monaco and guiding France to the World Cup in 2018.

PSG made him the second most expensive transfer in history when they purchased him from AS Monaco for 180 million euros in 2017. According to various reports, the 20-year-old makes £290,000 every week!

13. Mesut Özil (Arsenal)

Ozil, who won the World Cup with Germany in 2014, extended his stay at the Emirates in January 2018 and is the highest paid player in the Premier League after Alexis Sanchez. Mesut makes a grand £350,000 weekly.

Ozil also endorses products for Adidas and is on a seven-year contract with the German sports manufacturers reportedly worth 25 million pounds. Ozil is also a brand ambassador for Mercedes Benz and his income from endorsements, salary and image rights sees him earning €25.8 million annually.

12. Toni Kroos (Real Madrid)

Toni Kroos is the second highest paid Real Madrid player and rakes around £200,000 weekly. In 2018, his net worth was $25 million including all his properties and channels of incomes. He endorses various brands like Adidas, Hugo Boss and Nivia and reportedly earns €26.3 million.

11. Gerard Pique (Barcelona)

Barcelona’s Gerard Pique is the highest paid defender on this list. A husband international music icon Shakira, Pique is no stranger to the glamour of celebrity life either and is a marketable face. He penned to a new contract that will keep him at the Camp Nou until 2022. The release clause of the contract is set at €500 million and the new contract sees him earning £165,000 weekly.

Pique holds a degree in business from Harvard and is a very influential name off the field. Pique’s investment company Kosmos committed to a 25-year contract worth $3 billion with the highest governing body in tennis, the ITF for the development of tennis worldwide in addition to revolutionising the Davis Cup.

10. Luis Suárez (Barcelona)

Suarez was the face of Adidas for a long while but in August 2018, he switched to Puma and the deal is worth a million pounds a year. He has appeared in advertisements for Abitab, Antel, Cablevision, Garnier, Pepsi, and Samsung. In Asia, he endorses tech company Tronsmart and phone company Gome in China.

According to Forbes, he raked in $7 million from endorsements last year and is the second highest paid player at Barcelona, making €250,000 weekly.

9. Ezequiel Lavezzi (Hebei Fortune)

Lavezzi was one of the first high profile players to make the switch to the Chinese Super League when he signed for Hebei Fortune from PSG. Lavezzi’s annual salary is estimated to be around £11.4 million and is revealed to be making £220,000 per week.

8. Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona)

Barcelona made Coutinho the third most expensive transfer in history when the paid €142 million to secure the services of the Brazilian from Liverpool in early 2018.

He rakes a salary of £240,000 weekly and earns a significant part of his fortune through endorsements. He is linked with some of the biggest brands like Nike, Pro Evolution Soccer, Nissan and Hugo Boss. 

7. Alexis Sánchez (Manchester United)

United made Alexis Sanchez the highest paid player in the Premier League when they purchased him from Arsenal. Sanchez put pen to paper to a contract that lets him rake £350,000 per week.

Alexis is probably the only player in this list who has played the least

The fee is supposed to be around £500,000 weekly if you include bonuses and image rights payments. 

6. Andres Iniesta (Vissel Kobe)

Iniesta called time on his European career last summer and moved to Japanese club Vissel Kobe. He signed a 3-year-deal with Vissel Kobe and the contract ensures that he makes $30 million in salary alone. 

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5.Gareth Bale (Real Madrid) 

The Welshman is the highest paid player at the Bernabeu and rakes in a salary of £350,000 weekly. He also owns a company called Primesure Limited, wherein he owns 60% of the shares of the company.

Bale is an integral part of Adidas’ marketing plans and signed a new deal with them in 2014 worth $26 million. He also makes $11 million in endorsements from companies like Nissan Motor, Konami and Foot Locker. This takes his total earnings to €40.2 million a year.

4. Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)

Griezmann extended his stay at Atletico until 2023 amid speculation of a move to Barcelona last summer. The new contract made him one of the highest paid players in the world and he now makes around £335,000 per week.

The World Cup winner also has lucrative endorsement deals with the likes of EA Sports, Gillette, Head & Shoulders, HYT Watches and Beats by Dre.

3. Neymar (Paris Saint Germain)

Neymar became the most expensive transfer in history when Paris Saint Germain triggered his release clause at Barcelona at €222 million. It is also believed that Neymar receives the fattest salary check from his club among footballers. His current contract sees him getting paid £537,000 weekly after tax, which is higher than the £500,000 Messi earns on a weekly basis.

He is also one of the most marketable faces in the world and is tremendously popular on social media. He has marketing deals with Nike, Gillette, Beats Electronics and Red Bull and appears o just about every other product in his country, Brazil. Neymar’s’ net earnings, as valued by France Football stands at an immense €91.5 million annually.

2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)

Cristiano Ronaldo, who recently swapped Real Madrid for Juventus in the headline transfer last summer has taken a slight pay-cut in wishing to join the Italian giants. Ronaldo is currently on a huge €30 million a year contract. His last contract worth Real Madrid saw him earning £364,000 a week!

It was reported that Nike offered a lifetime contract to Ronaldo. He also has endorsement deals with Armani, Tag Heuer, Egyptian Steel, EA Sports, PokerStars and Castrol. Ronaldo is also one of the most popular brands in the world and has a line of underwear which has evolved to include other clothing, leisure and home products.

Some shocking players in the list

1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

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Messi is the highest paid player in the world and makes around €130 million, after taxes annually. He is followed by his career rival Cristiano Ronaldo who makes €113 million after taxes. The Argentine international extended his contract last year with Barcelona. It will keep him at the Camp Nou until 2021 and sees him getting paid a whopping £500,000.

Lionel Messi has been the face of Adidas for a decade now and the German sportswear manufacturer also offered him a lifetime contract. He has also endorsed brands like Pepsi, Gillette, Turkish Airlines and his earnings from endorsements amounted $27 million in 2018.