Being a global sports leader, the football industry offers incredible salaries for its best representatives. Top footballers earn dozens of millions of dollars annually, while their income sources are diversified. Login Casino updates the rating of the highest-paid soccer players, presenting the top-10 in 2021.
The coronavirus-associated year 2020 had a significant influence on the whole world, and the football industry wasn’t an exception. The sports news about soccer regularly informed about the positive tests and abnormal results in football due to intense schedules, while clubs were seeking ways how to decrease the financial burden on the budget. However, the top representatives of the industry received even higher salaries and increased their endorsements’ payouts.
You can have a look at an essential set of data about a football player provided by bookmakers. For instance, Olimpbet offers a full picture of a footballer’s activity in the field, including but not limited to his scored goals, passes, the number of yellow and red cards, played games, etc. It may sound surprising but the information about salaries can also help you to place a profitable bet on the results of a certain player. More “valuable” clubs’ members often have bigger revenue because they are football stars. At the same time, an overview of the overall clubs’ performance and odds are important as well and are available on such platforms as Betonmobile, for example. Combining these two types of data, bettors can make a reliable prognosis about a match outcome.
According to the official reports, elite soccer clubs are spending more than half of the whole revenue they receive on salaries. Can the best footballers be named as the richest persons in the world? How much do clubs spend on their wages? So, let’s review the situation in 2021.
How much do footballers earn?
Before the list of the highest-paid footballers is presented, let’s shortly explain the main sources of best footballers’ earnings. According to open-source information, the major part of the profit comes from salaries and easily reaches dozens of millions of dollars, while top representatives’ endorsements can also be eight-digit amounts.
Salary
When looking at the incredible numbers, one has to understand the difference between the official salary (the amount of money the club spends on footballers keeping) and real money that comes to the top soccer player’s wallet. After China has set the limit on wages in their local league, the top-earning footballers are all gathered in Europe. However, the taxes in the biggest countries of the Old World exceed 50%. We will mention exactly the pre-tax sums in the rating below, but one has to remember that the wage amount should be divided in half at a minimum.
Endorsements
This is another crucial source of income for top personalities, who can earn extra millions being at the peak. Thus, manufacturers of sportswear and accessories, food and drinks producers, and other industry sectors can be interested in paying to the top personality to attract attention to their brand. Social media only facilitated the process, and top-followed persons can earn seven-digit amounts for one post sharing. So, don’t be surprised by the amounts in the endorsements column.
Top-10 highest-paid soccer players
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
The Argentinian genius is leading the list of highest-earning footballers, grabbing about $126M annually. His wage in Barcelona is $92M, and the club is strongly interested in saving him in Catalonia. While Messi is making about $34M from endorsements per year, the club is earning more from selling only his t-shirts, nothing to say about the six-time Ballon d’Or owner’s media attraction. One can even assume the contract-shaking movements that were made in summer 2020 as the tries to save the salary at the same level, which is a case for hot debates in the crisis period.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Being 35 years old, the Portuguese attacker is still breaking the scoring records and showing he is a top player. His contract with Juventus assumes $70M as salary, which was one of the primary reasons for joining the Italian top-club. At the same time, his social media activity brings him an astonishing $47M annually, and some sources prove that his SMM share action costs a million dollars. In total, Ronaldo earns $9M less than Lionel Messi, but if top clubs cut the wages of these beasts due to the financial crisis, Cristiano can be in a safer position with better endorsements coming.
Neymar (PSG)
Even though Neymar’s transfer to PSG didn’t bring the Brazilian to the top spot in global football, he is earning enough at least. Thus, Neymar’s salary bill costs $78M to the Paris Saint-Germain per year, while individual advertising contracts allow him to make about $18M in 12 months, including exclusive cooperation with online poker sites like PokerStars. The total $96M is keeping him in the shade of two soccer aliens, while 28 years means that he has only a few years to overcome both if his younger teammate doesn’t do it earlier, of course.
Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
The 22-year-old French footballer is the most expensive player just now but takes only the fourth position in the top earners’ rating. His salary is way smaller than the aforementioned stars and is ‘only’ $28M per year. However, $14M taken from endorsements allow him to hold a strong position in the rating, and one can assume that he will move up if he doesn’t reduce the requirements for himself in PSG.
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
While Liverpool is ruled by the American financial model, the Egyptian attacker’s salary is far from being the biggest and is $24M per year. However, he is closing the list of footballers that are receiving eight-digit income from endorsements due to his popularity in populated Egypt and other Arabic countries. This revenue source gives him about $13M every 12 months and creates a safe spot if a massive salaries’ cut comes.
Paul Pogba (Manchester United)
One of the most overrated footballers on the current list as his $28M salary isn’t approved by his actions on the field. There are no doubts about the skills and talent of the French midfielder, but his desire to change the club is too clear to be ignored by bosses of Manchester United, especially having the really effective Bruno Fernandes in the squad. At the same time, the 27-year-old Pogba earns $6M from endorsements ($34M in total) and has a few years to revive his football influence and financial balance as the outcome.
Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona)
Interestingly, the overpriced soccer player’s status can be given to another French player – Griezmann. His transfer to Barcelona was regarded as the top deal due to his skills, and Barcelona’s bosses agreed to pay Antoine $28M per year. However, he is still struggling in the Catalonian club and avoids a successful series of matches, proving his price only sometimes. That is probably the reason why his endorsements are only $5M per year, and this number is surely dropping. Nevertheless, $33M in total helps him to hold the seventh position in the rating.
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid/Tottenham Hotspur)
The record-breaking transfer in 2013 seemed to be fully justified during the first years, so the bosses rewarded the Welshman with a contract that guaranteed $23M annually. However, the renewed deal seemed to ruin all his desire to play football, as the number of scandals with him seemed to be bigger than the number of scored goals. His loan to former club Tottenham Hotspur hasn’t bought anything positive for the first half of the year, and it seems that nothing will change soon. While two French players were close to overpriced and overestimated footballers’ status, Bale is confidently holding this position. Still $6M in endorsements and crucial $29M are in total for ‘golfer’ Gareth.
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
The Polish attacker was the most productive footballer in 2020, scoring more than 50 goals and winning all the possible trophies with Bayern Munich. However, he was good enough even before his team took the leading place among the best football clubs in the world, and his $24M of annual salary didn’t seem undeserved even in 2019. Additional $4M from endorsements place Robert in the ninth position in the rating with $28M in total, while it’s hard to believe he can repeat such an astonishing form two years in a row in his 32 and improve the revenue.
David De Gea (Manchester United)
The only goalkeeper in the list of top earners, which shows how Manchester United was trying to keep the Spanish player from transferring to Real Madrid a few years ago. $24M in wages annually were approved, but signing a new deal a bit poisoned De Gea’s hard-working skills. Even a tiny $3M in endorsements for him seems too much at the moment as one can name a few better keepers with ease. However, a total of $27M annually keeps David in the list.
| Ranking place | Footballer | Salary (before taxes) | Endorsements | Total earnings |
| 1 | Lionel Messi | $92M | $34M | $126M |
| 2 | Cristiano Ronaldo | $70M | $47M | $117M |
| 3 | Neymar | $78M | $18M | $96M |
| 4 | Kylian Mbappe | $28M | $14M | $42M |
| 5 | Mohamed Salah | $24M | $13M | $37M |
| 6 | Paul Pogba | $28M | $6M | $34M |
| 7 | Antoine Griezmann | $28M | $5M | $33M |
| 8 | Gareth Bale | $23M | $6M | $29M |
| 9 | Robert Lewandowski | $24M | $4M | $28M |
| 10 | David De Gea | $24M | $3M | $27M |
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